Omiai
by theschizokid
Summary: He accepted, and she could not decline. Warning: THERE WILL BE LEMONS. But not too graphic lemons. Sai X Ino, Shikamaru X Temari, Neji X Ten-Ten... And many more! HOPEFULLY, minimal fluff. R&R please! :D
1. Prologue

He was never good with words, but neither was the girl in front of him. She twiddled her forefingers, her eyes avoiding his, her head bent down low.

He could have laughed, if it weren't for the awkwardness of the situation. Imagine, he was attending his own omiai, and the girl his elders had picked for him was _her_. Well, who was he kidding? It just _had_ to be _her_. Oh, the irony.

He glanced at her, just as she plucked up the courage to sneak a peek at him. Instantly, her face flushed bright pink and there was a strange, mysterious glow to that colour. Hurriedly, she stared at her knees, the table in front of them, the walls... Anything but him.

"Hi," he spoke, and she jumped at the sound of his voice. He suppressed an amused smile. Hey, if the girl was already thinking of him as a monster, why disappoint? He wanted to have his bit of fun first...

The kimono-clad girl established eye contact with him for a split second, before she went back to twiddling her fingers like a little child, embarrassed and confused, but curious nonetheless. He noted that her midnight blue tresses grew past her forearms, _that's going to be inconvenient for her,_ he thought, musing at her child-like innocence. "It's rude not to answer when someone greets you, you know," he reprimanded gently, playfully, but his voice monotonous. He just wanted to hear her voice, for she had been silent for the past half hour.

"H-hello," she greeted, clearly unnerved and uncomfortable. Inwardly, he sighed. If she was this uneasy when they first met, he thought about her sanity when they started to live together.

In the adjoining room, the boy heard his village elders, his siblings and his own ex-Sensei negotiate with the Hokage and the girl's three family members. _It's strange_, he thought, _I should be in there too. After all, I'm the - _

"Kazekage-sama," Baki smiled wryly as the door slid open and the nine negotiators joined the awkward pair. The Shadow of the Wind nodded his acknowledgment, and told Baki to continue.

The man cleared his throat, and looked at his fellow eight counterparts, all of whom nodded slowly. "The Sunagakure and Konohagakure alliance will now be further strengthened by our Lord Kazekage-sama's marriage to the heiress of Konohagakure's renowned Hyuuga Clan, Hyuuga Hinata-sama, whereupon she relinquishes her birthright to her younger sister Hyuuga Hanabi and her cousin, Hyuuga Neji."

Through the corner of his eye, he saw Temari shake her head, her eyes closed and her face knotted up in a frown. He saw Kankuro sighing, as he patted Temari on her back and started to frown a little himself.

"Does Kazekage-sama agree to this partnership?" Tsunade questioned, not really expecting an answer.

Gaara looked to the timid girl in front of him, then to her father, her sister, her cousin. His gaze then set upon Baki, Temari and Kankuro, followed by the two Sunagakure village elders. Finally he stared at Tsunade, his eyes unfazed and his expression as deadpan as ever. He closed his eyes, exhaled deeply. He had thought about this for days, and even if they had presented the ugliest or the most beautiful girl alive to him, his answer would have been the same.

"Yes," he answered, his pale green, pupil-less eyes now fixated on his fiancée, "I do."


	2. Chapter 1

He recalled her sweet voice as the negotiators started congratulating each other while drafting up the papers in the infamous adjoining room. It was high-pitched, but in a harmonious, melodic way, if one could put those two terms together. It calmed him, somehow, and he laughed at the thought. _Was that love?_

Drinking his tea, he arched an invisible eyebrow as he scrutinized his fiancée. Hm. That word seemed alien to him, he never thought he'd use it. Fiancée. _Fiancée_. Alright, he liked the word. _Fiancée_. The girl clutched her kimono at her knees as she sat on her legs. He could see a few beads of swear trickle down the side of her face. It wasn't summer, in fact it was early autumn, and Konohagakure had fairly cool temperatures during that time. He himself was wearing his thick get-up and he was feeling rather okay.

Cold sweat?

Regardless, he stopped drinking his green liquid and stared the girl in the eye. "You've got to stop being so nervous," was his third sentence directed to her, and he closed his eyes in embarrassment and annoyance. If he really bothered her that much, she should have said something to her family members.

He contemplated this. Perhaps it was his invisible eyebrows? Or his panda-like eyes? No, it couldn't be. Temari said those eyes made him look like a Panda, and pandas are adorable creatures... Aren't they?

"Um..." she started, and Gaara's head snapped up immediately, giving her his full attention. Slowly, she inhaled deeply, then held it for a few seconds, before she exhaled. The girl closed her eyes. "It's nice to meet you. Please take care of me... Kazekage-sama," she finished as she finally held eye contact with him for the first time.

Gaara didn't know what he should have done. He wondered if his smile would have crept her out, or if his robot face would have done that. Shrugging, his eyes roamed over her body, taking mental notes of her curvaceous figure, her pale complexion, her contrasting long dark hair. The windows to his soul examined her pretty face, her pale eyes, her small mouth, her relatively thin lips, and her straight nose. _She's pretty... Scared_, he thought, before sighing knowingly. Of course she would be scared. She was getting engaged to a man she barely knew, a man that was reputed to be bloodthirsty and cruel, a man who was the Kazekage.

"Let me tell you what I expect of this union," Gaara replied, not knowing what else he could say that would suit the situation. "This marriage is no scam, and upon it being official, you are to leave Konohagakure and take up residence with me, in Sunagakure. You will no longer be a citizen nor a kunoichi of Konohagakure, but of Sunagakure. As your husband, I expect to have the power of one in the bedroom, out of the bedroom and in the office. This union between us is expected to blossom into fruition, meaning we will have to produce heirs. I cannot promise you love, nor can I promise you fun. However, I will promise you protection and grant any whim or fancy you have within reason. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded quickly, obviously frightened of him before, she now looked as if she was going to cry. "Understood," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. "I'll... I'll try my best."

"As will I," Gaara responded curtly. And upon the girl realizing what hidden meaning her words had, her face flushed once more and her hands gripped the silk fabric of the kimono again.

"That-that's not what I meant!" she said, on the verge of tears and desperately trying to keep herself together. "I meant that I'd... Gaara-sama was a Jinchuuriki, right?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," he answered. "I was." He longed to hear her sweet voice again, and looked at her square in the face. He chuckled inwardly at her awkwardness, and her ability - or lack thereof - to control the situation. She was cute.

"Like Naruto-kun, right?" her face got slightly redder at that sentence, and Gaara picked up on that.

"Do you like Naruto?"

The girl jumped once again, afraid to look into his eyes. She shook her head furiously, her face covering her cheeks. "No! I mean... I do like Naruto-kun, but he's a dear friend of mine who taught me a lot, and I admire him for his attitude..."

"Really," marveled Gaara as he stared at the scenery outside the room. The Hyuuga Compound was a beautiful place. "So do I."

Gaara turned back to look at his fiancée, who smiled, wistful. He held his breath as he took in her beauty. She was pretty, and that smile just lit up the room. The tips of her lips curved upwards, and her eyelids narrowed slightly. Her blush faded away.

"Naruto is..." Gaara began, his eyes no longer bent on invading the girl's soul. He looked outward again, blinking. "Really something." Then he looked at her, expecting a reaction.

"He-he is, isn't he," the girl stammered, her eyes avoiding his own once again. Bored, Gaara got up from his position opposite her, and sat down next to her. He saw her squeak in surprise.

Gaara cupped her cheeks with his two palms, staring straight into her panicked eyes. The girl was speechless, stupefied. She sat there, frozen, her legs beneath her and her arms supporting her weight as she leaned backwards. Gaara drew closer, and she swore she heard dramatic opera music in the background. Her face became a few centimetres away from his. She could see his flawless skin, it looked so smooth... There weren't any scars or bruises... So smooth... His lips, oh his luscious, thin lips... His strangely attractive straight nose...

"This is what couples do, right?" he murmured as he drew even closer, tilting his head to allow room for the next action he was going to perform... Gaara inched forward, taking his time... She could almost taste his cool breath...

"Um... Um..." she squirmed under his touch, face heating up again. This seemed like déjà vu to her...

Then, suddenly, he let go of her and turned his head away from her. "Kidding," he mumbled, not wanting to look the girl in the eye. Sighing, he got up and resumed his former position, playing with the empty cylindrical earthen tea cup.

"Is-I'm sorry... Is there something wrong?" the girl asked, flustered. Did she do something wrong? Or was it something that she _didn't_ do? "Did I do-"

Gaara shook his head, offered her an bored gaze. "You're alright. I felt weird kissing someone whose name I don't know. What's your name?" He placed his elbow on the table, rested his head on his palm.

"Hinata," the girl replied, and her name came out as a tired breath, weary of this game they were seemingly playing. "My name is Hinata."

Gaara nodded curtly, face still bearing no sense of emotion. "Call me Gaara. Wives are supposed to call their husbands by their names, are they not?" Hinata swallowed. Was this the future of her marriage? To _pose_ and follow society's norms?

The door to the adjoining room slid open again, and the nine filed out. Temari and Kankuro looked extremely agitated. Neji and Hanabi were frowning slightly. The rest wore weary, passive expressions. Tsunade and Baki handed marriage papers to the pair, setting the powerful pieces of paper on the short coffee table. "Sign them and you'll be married. Officially," the Godaime Hokage announced, handing Gaara a fountain pain.

Without a moment's hesitation, Gaara's hand signed the paper. Bored, he scanned the papers and passed them to Hinata to sign. "Your turn," he whispered, his low voice the lone sound in the silence.

Tentatively, Hinata picked the pen up and glanced at her father, who gave her a fierce, decisive nod. _Sign it_, it was as though he commanded her. Hinata moved her wrist slowly, signing her name as she sealed the deal.

"I now pronounce Sabaku no Gaara and Hyuuga Hinata husband and wife. While their marriage is now official, only after the ceremony will there be consummation," Tsunade warned, giving a mischievous wink to Hinata, whose face turned bright pink in response.

"We aren't barbarians," Temari said.

"Could've fooled me," Neji muttered under his breath, a soft whisper.

Temari rolled her eyes, and Kankuro clenched his fists, containing his anger. "So the wedding will be held in a week. It'll be here, in Konohagakure, so Hinata-chan has some time to say goodbye to her friends. Details will be given soon, Kankuro, 10 members from the original Konoha 11 and I will arrange it," Gaara's older sister smiled the first sincere smile Hinata had seen since the omiai started.

As Hiashi and Baki left the room, Tsunade gave Hinata a pat on the back. "Good luck," she offered a worried smile as she left to join the older men, who wanted to discuss some matters outside. "We'll give you a few moments to yourselves."

Once the room was clear of the older people, Hanabi rushed to hug her sister. "Onee-chan..." she said softly, not knowing what else to say. Hinata closed her eyes, smiling sweetly as she rubbed Hanabi's head gently. Gaara watched, emotionless.

Neji rose up from his place, stoically placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "I don't know why this marriage has to be done... But do keep in mind that if my cousin is harmed in _any_ way, you can rest assured that Konohagakure will be at her aid."

Kankuro pointed an accusing finger to the huddled trio. "You speak as though we'll hurt her." Gaara looked to the floor, closed his eyes. He sighed, shaking his head. Hinata's eyes darted from Gaara to her cousin. She opened her mouth to speak.

Neji arched an eyebrow. "Do I?"

Little veins popped in Kankuro's neck. "Don't give us that crap, you little shit-"

"Calm down, Kankuro," Temari shouted fiercely. She turned to face Neji and looked at him square in the eye. She smiled, a threat. "_You_ keep in mind, Neji, that your cousin has married _my_ brother. We're _family_ now. We don't harm our fellow family member. I hope you don't either."

Neji shot her a look of pure disgust, and decided the conversation was over. "Come on, Hanabi-sama," he said as he stalked out of the room, taking the youngest girl with him.

"Dumb bastard," Temari muttered as she massaged her temples. Turning to face Hinata, she smiled again, brightly, cheerily. "Hinata," she sighed, her smile reaching her eyes, her tone filled with excitement. "I've always wanted a sister. Welcome to the family."


	3. Chapter 2

Kankuro gave her a weak smile. "Welcome to the family, Hinata. We'll do our best to keep you comfortable."

"Right then, we'll take our leave! Time to do some serious wedding planning, little brother #1!" Temari yelled excitedly, grabbing her brother's one-piece hoodie with cat-like ears and dragging him outside. Kankuro could barely force out a hurried _goodbye_ as he was pulled away.

Gaara stared at her, forcing a smile. When Hinata cringed, he dropped the act, and returned to his normal bored expression. "I don't know what to say to you," he announced lamely.

Hinata squirmed under his intense gaze, his eyes bearing a hole into her sole. She fidgeted to the left. She fidgeted to the right. "We're married now..." Hinata mumbled, staring at the tatami mats that lined the floor.

"You..." Gaara started, his tone suddenly dark and deep, no longer the monotonous voice. "You had a pretty fucked up childhood, didn't you?" Hinata's eyes grew wide, and Gaara realised his mistake. "Excuse the language," he added rather hastily.

"No, it's alright," the shy, white-eyed ex-heiress smiled warmly, and Gaara shivered when he saw the upward curve on her lips had reached her eyes. "I did have a rough childhood because of my family. But..." she paused, daring herself to sneak a peak at her new husband again, "I know it's nothing compared to yours, Gaara-sama."

Gaara shook his head solemnly. "A childhood where one is abandoned by his parents is hell, no matter how much or how little the abandonment is," he answered rather poetically. "But my parents are dead. So I wouldn't worry too much about it anymore. Live and let live, right?" he tried to smile again, but this time it didn't quite reach his pale green eyes.

Hinata was shocked at his words; she never expected to hear _Gaara_ say that. She spluttered, scrambling for something to say. "Y-you're right, Gaara-sama. Live and let live," she breathed, inwardly panicking.

Gaara smirked slightly, knowing all too well what _she_ was thinking. "You think I'm a monster, don't you?" he sighed as he pointed his right forefinger at her, an accusation. "You think that my words are meaningless, that a monster like me hasn't the right to use them, that-"

"Stop," Hinata interrupted, her tone desperate. "I would never have thought you were a _monster_. Such a serious label is only brought on someone who has committed the most heinous of crimes, and even then I believe that person can change! Naruto-kun was never a _monster_, and neither were you, Gaara-sama," she finished quickly, the words flowing out like she had them prepared.

"Lies!" Gaara nearly shouted, and Hinata jumped. "All goddamn lies..." he sneered, rolling his eyes. "You all think I'm a monster for killing my own mother, for killing all those I have murdered in cold blood. You think, _how could such a monster, such an abomination of nature become Kazekage?_ Filthy lies," he spat, then glared at Hinata, "But I can't blame you, Hinata. What person can love a _monster_ like me?" For Gaara, it wasn't a question.

Hinata bit her lip, her white eyes fighting the tears. She frowned, and looked her husband in the eye, in all his hatred and contempt. A grim silence weighed heavily in the room, and the pair thought the marriage was already over.

"Me," Hinata murmured loud enough for Gaara to hear. He withdrew his glare upon her answer, his expression now one of surprise and curiosity. "I can. I can love a person like you... Naruto-kun once told me that... In order for a Jinchuuriki to survive all the hate and anger that would befall him once the demon was sealed into him, one must fill the Jinchuuriki with love."

Hinata relaxed, and her frown disappeared. "Gaara-sama didn't get to fill himself with love before Shukaku was sealed into him... So let me fill you with love, now that he's gone."

Gaara swallowed, and a true sincere smile played on his thin lips. It reached his eyes this time. "Hinata," he said, and he liked the way it tasted on his tongue. "Hinata," he repeated, "you've already started."

_Meanwhile, atop the Hokage Building_

"What're we here for, Temari?" Shikamaru asked, sighing as he looked at the breezing clouds instead of her.

"Sit down, crybaby," she ordered as she addressed her audience. Everyone was there, from her psycho protector to the loudmouth blond Imma-Be-Hokage-One-Day kid. "Alright everybody, listen up! I've gathered you all here because I have something I need to tell you, and something need your help with. So listen carefully," Temari paused for that dramatic effect, and she grinned as she finished. "Hinata's getting married to Gaara!"

As she expected, many questions and statements were instantaneously fired at her. If they were kunai and shuriken, Temari would have been dead, regardless of her wind power.

"You've _got_ to be joking me! Hinata and that freaky kid?"

"Hinata? And Gaara? Ohmygod!"

"Why? Why does Gaara want to marry Hinata?"

"What's wrong with Gaara?"

"What the hell is this?"

"What's going to happen to poor Hinata?"

"Silence!" Temari commanded, her yell the loudest over the din of her audience. They shifted uncomfortably, but shut up nonetheless. "This is an alliance marriage between Sunagakure and Konohagakure, the papers have already been signed so technically they're already husband and wife. I'd advise everyone here who's smart enough to not even _dare_ to jeopardize their lovely matrimony. Okay?"

Not waiting for their answer, Temari continued, "Now, I need your help for the planning of the official ceremony. You know, the kiss-the-bride thing and all. Agreed?"

"Stop fucking around with us! What is this?" Kiba yelled, standing up with clenched fists, and a clenched heart. He saw red - what the hell, Hinata had already married? "Yesterday when we were training she was still single!"

Temari stared him down, her initial bubbly disposition dissipating instantly. "Sit. Down," she said slowly, harshly. Her eyes narrowed. "Like I said," the blond kunoichi repeated, "I'd advise anyone smart enough to stay away from the destruction of my brother's marriage. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. But if I - if _we_ - find out the partnership was ended before it had ran its full course, I can assure you, we'll end you." With that, Temari smiled, a threat, a dare, a challenge.

At Kiba's angered speechlessness, Temari continued. "Alright, so I need suggestions for the flowers. How about blood red roses?" She turned to Kankuro, who shot her a weary look. "Gaara'd like those blood red roses, won't he?"

"Um," Lee raised his hand, and his eyes could almost be seen burning - burning with the passion and the fire of youth... Or so he said. "I think Hinata-san would prefer lavender. She seems to really like that colour, even adding it to her dressing..."

Temari smirked at her crowd; she got their approval. "Alright then! I want suggestions from everyone! If not I'll just go with my sense of decoration, okay?"

"Won't be much of a wedding when she does," Shikamaru mumbled to Chouji, who laughed in turn. Temari ignored him.

_Later that day, at the place where the Sunagakure shinobi are staying_

"Right!" Temari nodded triumphantly, showing Baki the list of suggestions she managed to weasel out of 10 of the Konoha 11. "We'll see what we can do, won't we, Baki?" she grinned as she dragged her ex-Sensei by the cloth he hung to hide half his face.

"Kankuro," Gaara said as the pair left the room.

His older brother turned around. "Yes, Gaara?" he replied, his pad of cotton wool stopping as he rubbed his right cheek free of the purple paint.

"I need some advice," Gaara forced himself to say it - he couldn't really imagine going to Temari for what he was going to ask next, and with Baki it would just have been plain and pure embarrassment.

"What is it?" Kankuro prompted, dragging the make-up remover across his lips. "You have my full attention, go on, shoot."

"How do I get her to start liking me?" Gaara exhaled hurriedly, his words coming out in a relatively jumbled sentence.

Kankuro stopped removing his purple face paint, and for the first time since the start of the conversation he turned to face his little brother. "I'm sorry?" he stammered incredulously. He couldn't believe his ears - did _Gaara_ just ask him...

Sighing and clenching his fists, Gaara repeated himself, this time much slower. The older boy tried not to cracked up. "Pfft," he spluttered, desperately attempting to contain his laughter. He didn't want to upset Gaara, this time because he feared for the young boy's already-broken ego and confidence. "Well," Kankuro coughed, mentally whacking himself in the head, "what do you want to know?"

"Well," Gaara answered slowly, searching for the right words, "I just want her to know that this might... Work. Just... Just get her to know. That I can tolerate her presence. You know?"

Kankuro gushed over the redhead. _He's so shy and adorable_, he thought as he wide grin spread along his naked lips. "I get it," Kankuro assured. He gave Gaara a thumbs-up sign. And then he suddenly remembered something. Kankuro grabbed his luggage bag, rummaged through it. Finally, he pulled up a rather new book with tabs on it. Gleefully, he handed it to his sibling. "Just memorize the phrases that are tabbed, little brother! I - almost - guarantee she'll acknowledge your tolerance. She might even start to like you." The puppeteer patted Gaara on his back gently, as he gathered his many bottles of make-up removers and arranged them according to alphabetical order.

"Neat freak," Gaara murmured to himself as he turned the book over to see its title. _Pick-up Lines 101: Phrases for that Shy Suitor_ - grunting in slight embarrassment, the Kazekage cracked it open slowly, making sure Kankuro's back was turned and Temari and Baki were still outside as he started memorizing those sacred phrases...

_Meanwhile, in Hinata's Room..._

The group was silent, the atmosphere tense. Nervous trickles of sweat could be seen on some faces. The ex-heiress sighed. "I'm sorry..." she started, berating herself for the tears she was struggling to hold back. "I didn't know it would be-"

"Him?" Kiba finished for her, sneering. The pale-eyed girl cringed; she had not seen her teammate this angry since... Well, since a once-drunk Sasuke had tried to, er, copulate with Akamaru. And even then she was sure Kiba wasn't as angry as this.

"So you knew you were getting engaged," Shino interjected stiffly. Right now he seemed so far away from her... No, they all did. Well, except maybe Naruto, Lee and the girls.

"I... It was expected," Hinata said, resisting the urge to twiddle her forefingers again. She bit her lip.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys anyway, if she wants to get married let her get married, for Christ's sake," a bored Sasuke complained. To be honest, nobody really knew why he was there. Meh, Naruto probably dragged him along.

"You know what you lack, Uchiha..." Shino countered, his black glasses shielding his real eyes.

"What, hatred? A killing intent?" the former rogue ninja taunted, smirking at his own words.

Shino almost cracked a sarcastic smile. "What the. Shit, I'm not your dead brother. You lack camaraderie... The ability to worry and feel for a teammate. That's probably why Naruto almost-"

"Stop, please," Sakura ordered softly, Ino frowning as Shikamaru yawned. What were he and Chouji doing there anyway... "This isn't going to solve or answer anything," Tsunade's student said.

Sasuke scoffed, and Shino shrugged. Then all 10 of them faced Hinata. "Hinata," Ten-Ten said gently, softly, "please explain."

"It-it isn't my place, it was never... Never my love to give... I... It was expected," the pressured girl replied hesitantly, unwilling to say anymore.

"Hinata," Naruto finally spoke, and for once the victim of this improvised version of the Spanish Inquisition didn't want to hear his voice. "Do you think... Do you think that Gaara could make you happy?" He liked Gaara, admired even, for being able to become Kazekage before he himself became Hokage. Yet Naruto wasn't really comfortable with his friend going away to another village, especially if she was going to be unhappy.

The shy girl's head rose slowly from its initial slump, and her voice steadied as she said her answer. The girl chose her words carefully, slowly, not wanting to provoke the situation. "For once..." Hinata hesitated, "I think I could be... Truly... Happy."


	4. Chapter 3

"Kankuro," Temari emerged from the living area, tossing the little stack of papers she had tortured Baki with to the small coffee table by the door. Her puppeteer of a brother snored away. "Never mind," she sighed, glancing at the clock. It was almost one in the morning, no wonder the emo-looking sand shinobi was about to fall asleep. When she turned to crash out on her own futon, she saw Gaara still awake. The redhead was still flipping through the book Kankuro had given him, mumbling a few phrases aloud to aid his memory.

"Gaara," Temari whispered, trying to keep Kankuro in his deep, blissful slumber. "What're you doing?"

He turned around immediately, flashing his sister a sinister glare. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here." Well.

He might as well have said _Get. Out._ Concealing his embarrassment with anger, Gaara slapped the book shut.

Temari laughed coyly, all the more intrigued. "What're you hiding, little brother," she snickered, undoing one out of her four bunches of sandy blond hair. "You only show that face when you're doing something embarrassing."

In his mind, Gaara tossed around the idea that he could ask his sister. After all, girls should know what other girls want, right? He shrugged - they all looked the same to him. "Temari," he said, resigned. She was going to find out anyway. "I asked Kankuro for advice in dealing with her."

"Her?" Temari arched an eyebrow. "You don't even know her name?" she questioned, disappointed. Her brother, as of then, had no hope.

"Um," he shifted awkwardly in his cross-legged position. "Hinako... Or Hinato... Or..."

The oldest sibling rolled her eyes. "Hinata," she corrected, unamused. "It's Hinata. H-I-N-A-T-A. Gosh Gaara, you ought to know the name of the woman you just married."

Now it was his turn to take his eyeballs for a roll. Gaara shrugged again, unapologetic. "I have a lot on my mind," he offered lamely. " Now, are you going to help me or do you want me to continue with the book Kankuro lent me?" The Kazekage handed the leather bound dark purple coloured book to her.

At the title, Temari twitched. _What the..._ Pick-up Lines 101 _? What on earth had he memorized?_ Sensing a potential headache in dealing with the brother-to-brother situation, Temari decided to let Kankuro deal with Gaara when the lattermost had asked him. "Gaara," she said wearily, not even _wanting_ to know what was in the book. "When you have trouble with Hinata again, come to me," she advised as she got underneath the blanket and let sleep take her.

"Fine," Gaara muttered, a little peeved at his sister's fickleness. He could feel a pout coming on. Slightly mortified by the mental image, the redhead slouched again as he continued memorizing those precious pick-up lines.

_Meanwhile, in Hinata's room..._

"Well, if Hinata thinks she's going to be happy I'm fine with that," Naruto proclaimed, adding that he would not partake in this cold war. He was still Hinata's friend, and he cared for her happiness.

Ino, Sakura and Ten-Ten nodded in agreement. "We think so too. And if Hinata comes back upset, we have a just cause. It's no use wasting our energy now, we're just being pessimistic."

As Ten-Ten finished her announcement on behalf of her fellow kunoichi, the door slid open, and the slow calming atmosphere disintegrated. It was Neji, whose face appeared rather taut as his frown used so many more muscles. "Are you quite done?" he asked tightly, his tone strangled, he sounded like he didn't really want to talk to them at all. "It's one in the morning, and I advise all of you to go home and sleep." Finished with his business, he walked off to his own room, leaving the door open and the rest in a rude shock.

"Ten-Ten, your boyfriend's an ass," Ino retorted, a little miffed about Neji's lack of courtesy for guests. Ten-Ten sighed, not even bothering to say her normal rebuttal of _He isn't my boyfriend._ Nonetheless, she and Sakura gathered their things and left the Hyuuga Compound, on grounds that their parents were probably already waiting at home, worried sick. "They'd usually stand outside the house after eleven, and if we came back alive they'd kill us themselves," joked Sakura as they departed, though nobody really was in the mood for jokes. Lee escorted them home, Hinata bade them all goodbye with a brief curt but tired nod.

Sasuke, Sai, Shikamaru and Chouji took their leave, reporting their neutrality as they did so. Hinata fought sleep as she sat up straight, order and politeness still commanding her every move. She bade her visitors goodbye, and finally when Naruto had had enough, he dragged Shino out to leave the poor girl in peace. Kiba stood up, chagrined, and shook his head silently as he left as well, frowning.

_At last_, Hinata thought, inhaling a sudden and deep breath of fresh air, Kiba having left the door open. _I can breathe_. The 18 year old willed herself to her futon, not bothering to change out of her yukata. It wasn't as if she didn't want their company - the girl had felt so overwhelmed as it was, and they merely added to the pressure. She didn't _need_ them right now - God, definitely not now. She needed...

Hinata's eyelids shut, her world instantly shifting from one of light to one of immediate blindness. Her hands roamed the cool futon, the soft down cushioning her fingers. Indecisive tears leaked from her closed eyes, her mind torn apart by temptation and logic, by fate and choice... She needed _him_. She needed...

"Gaara," Hinata whispered grimly, her last comprehensive word before sleep engulfed her, giving her sanction for a few hours.

_The Next Day..._

Naruto was up and about at ten the next morning, hauling Sakura, Sai, Sasuke, Ten-Ten, Ino, Kiba and Shino to the Hyuuga Compound. Neji greeted them with contempt, but let them in anyway. After all, they were Hinata-_sama_'s guests, not his. They waited in the courtyard with tea and mochi. Sakura and Ino stretched in the open area, Ten-Ten unable to stand Neji's attitude any longer and hence going after him.

"Oh," Hinata murmured in slight surprise as she saw the crowd from the slightly ajar door. She smoothened her yukata and combed her fingers through her tresses hurriedly. The girl didn't want to make them wait.

"H-hello," Hinata greeted serenely as she opened the sliding door and smiled weakly, wearily. Naruto gave a worried sigh at this; identifying fake smiles was his specialty. Sakura waved, and Ino offered her a _Good morning_. A low _Hn_ was all that could be forced out of the boys.

Hinata placed her hands onto the floor in a bid to prevent her twiddling of fingers. She looked Naruto in the eye, hers tired and stressed. "What brings you all here?" As the sky blue in Naruto's eyes set in, Hinata felt a strange calm. She always liked Naruto's eyes.

The boy gave a thumbs-up, slapping a huge grin on his face. "I decided that _everyone_ could use some..."

"Oh no," groaned Sasuke, "It's..."

"Ichiraku Ramen!" the two best friends said in unison, with Naruto yelling the name of the restaurant in excitement while all Sasuke felt was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Not that the surviving Uchiha detested the noodles or anything, just that around Naruto one could tire of soup and stringy carbohydrates extremely quickly.

Hinata could have laughed. She knew Naruto adored the shop, and today perhaps they would all eat together, some semblance of normalcy. She liked that. She wanted that. She needed that. "I'll treat," Hinata proffered, her eyes glazed over somewhat. She felt a little dizzy - last night had not been the best of nights, she had woken up frequently and had a listless sleep. "As a parting gift, if you'd like to look at it that way," she added quickly, nearly forgetting the pride boys had. At their agreement, Hinata went back into her room to change.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, punching the air with his fists. For the 18 year old, Ichiraku Ramen was still the most exciting prospect he had ever came across... Well, apart from maybe marrying his dear Sakura-chan one day.

As they were leaving, Hinata looked at Kiba, giving him an apologetic look. She had already given one to Shino earlier, who had returned it. Still, the dog-boy's frown deepened at this, his internal conflict rising some more. Beside him, Akamaru whimpered. The girl sighed, and looked away.

_At Ichiraku Ramen..._

"Occhan!" Naruto addressed the owner as the latter placed the group's orders onto the counter. "San-Kyu!" he thanked in his poor English, before muttering _Itadakimasu_ and wolfing his noodles down.

"Itadakimasu," the rest echoed in a more relaxed fashion as they clasped their hands and expressed thanks for their food. Hinata was just about to tuck in when she heard footsteps behind her and a more or less familiar chakra. Quickly, she turned around.

Surprise, surprise. It was Gaara. "Hinato," he acknowledged as the group turned around as well, Naruto with noodles in his mouth. _Hinato?_ No, it didn't leave quite the same taste on his tongue than the first time he said her name right.

Kiba snapped his chopsticks. "See? He doesn't even know her _name_!" he bellowed as he pointed an accusing finger at the standing redhead.

Temari entered the small premises before Naruto or Sakura could mediate between the Sand and the Leaf. "I keep telling you," Temari sighed, slightly annoyed. "It's _Hinata_." Behind her, Shikamaru was fiddling with his earrings. "And be careful of where you're pointing that finger, dog-breath. That's the Kazekage right there," chided the wind-user, and Kiba's arm relaxed, returned to its original spot at his side.

"The last time you told me that was last night," Gaara reminded his sister, before deciding it didn't really matter and continuing. "Hinata," he corrected himself. _Hinata. There, that felt better._ The girl in question looked at him, uneasy. Suddenly her appetite was no more. The Kazekage shifted his weight from his left foot to his right, unsure of what he was about to say next. He shut his eyes decisively. If this didn't work, may the sand in his gourd engulf him.

"Hello," the testy redhead started. "I'm a thief," he said, though all present had known that that was dead wrong information in all ways. "And I'm here to steal your heart."

Hinata arched an eyebrow, Sasuke stared at Gaara. The rest took a look at the Kazekage, Temari, each other... Then they burst out into peals of laughter... Except Shino, Kiba and Sai. The first two started twitching, thinking that that was unbelievable. Was the sociopathic killer hitting on Hinata _after_ he had married her?

"Are you a dictionary?" Gaara continued, slightly confused but persisting. "Because you add meaning to my life," he finished before Hinata could answer. The howling group held onto each other for support, Naruto laughing so hard he totally forgot about his ramen. Well... Apart from Sai. The ghost-white ex-Root member tilted his head to one side, as confused as Gaara. Beside the redhead, Temari struggled against laughing her lungs out at the poor boy, who looked as though he was on the verge of a temper.

_One more try_, Gaara thought, thoroughly annoyed by Hinata's apathetic blushing. What irritated him even more was the pack of excessively joyful lunatics she had been eating with. "You're so hot," the Kazekage said, causing more blood to rush to his wife's head. "That you're the sole cause of global warming." By now, the group Naruto had brought along were desperate for oxygen... Sai was still emotionless though, and Kiba and Shino were suppressing their own laughter.

"Gaara," Temari interrupted before he killed the tearing group, shinobi that were slowly starting to turn pale blue. "Let's stop this." The sister shot Hinata an apologetic glance, before leading Gaara out of the shop and to the Hokage Building. Tsunade had wanted to discuss some things. Hinata clutched her pants, face flushed and hot. She stared at the floor.

"I-I'm going home," the ex-heiress stated as she saw the trio leave. She gathered her things as quickly as possible, departing before any of them could calm down from their laughing sprees. Sai looked at the girl as she walked home, Kiba and Shino still a little twitchy.

_At the Hyuuga Compound again..._

Neji was sparring with Ten-Ten in the courtyard outside Hinata and Hanabi's rooms, a match where he would tell her his feelings if he lost. Ten-Ten hastily pulled out a scroll. She instantly threw it up in the air as she called out the technique's name: "Sogu Tensasai!" her strong but high-pitched voice resounded throughout the small courtyard. She stood back a little as Neji used the Eight Trigrams Heavenly Spin to block her weapons out. Ten-Ten was about to fire her second attack before Hinata entered the compound and, upon seeing Neji, ran to her room.

Neji stopped moving as the last kunai hit the ground. "Hinata-sama?" greeted Neji uncertainly, wondering what had happened. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Ten-Ten, who shrugged.

"I don't know," she answered, recovering from her battle stance.

"I bet it's Naruto again," Neji murmured, cursed under his breath. "That idiot's probably said and done something stupid again, I can't believe I let them take her..."

"Chill, Neji," Ten-Ten said as she sat down. "If Naruto really did do something bad, he'll come over." Rethinking her words, she added, "He'll probably come over anyway."

The Hyuuga cast her a worried, weary look. Then he turned his head to look at the door Hinata just slid shut. He thought he could hear her sighing - or crying, Neji couldn't tell. "He'd better," Neji whispered. "He better."


	5. Chapter 4

"Hey Temari," Gaara mumbled as he stared at the shut window. His sister's head snapped up. "Was what I said funny?" his voice was monotonous, his tone dead. But Temari could see through the façade - she always could. Shaking her head gently, the blond kunoichi of Sunagakure placed a comforting hand on Gaara's shoulder.

Surprised at her sisterly action, the Kazekage turned his torso to look at her. "Gaara," she said his name softly, assuringly. Temari smiled, a gentle curve that accentuated her natural beauty and almost made her _glow_ with radiance... As Shikamaru would have liked to describe it. "What you said back there, I'm sure you really meant it... But I think the way you phrased it was a bit wrong... Instead of puns and pick-up lines that almost always go awry, what about other mediums to convey your feelings to Hinata?"

Nodding slowly, Gaara understood what the girl meant. Then he turned to Shikamaru, who was sitting on the couch opposite him. "Shikamaru," he murmured, and the Jounin acknowledged the summon. "You're smart, aren't you." It wasn't a question, and the genius shrugged. "Advise me," the redhead said, not as an order, but as a plea. His pale green eyes softened somewhat as Gaara relaxed; his breathing became slow, deep breaths. "Please," he added.

"Well," the latest descendant of the famed Nara clan mumbled, scratching his ear. Beside her brother, Temari smirked. _He only does that when he's uneasy and unsure, that stupid bastard_, Temari thought as she suppressed a giggle. Then she caught herself – since when did she pick up on that nugget of unwanted information? Her crafty grin disappeared, and she started to frown. "I don't really like girls right now…" Shikamaru continued, and before Temari could stop herself, she jumped up and pointed a forefinger at the brunette.

"You mean you're gay?" she blurted out, instantaneously covering her mouth and feeling blood rush to her face. Shikamaru arched an eyebrow, and she peeked at Gaara who angled his own head slowly in order to observe his sister. "S-sorry," Temari said as she gathered her bearings and cleared her throat. Embarrassed at her sudden outburst, she sat back down quickly and allowed Shikamaru to finish.

"No, I'm not gay," the Konohagakure shinobi clarifying his sexuality for the blond woman and sighed. _How troublesome…_ "Anyway," Shikamaru dismissed the earlier allegation, though a little perturbed by it. _What does it matter to her, anyway… It's not like she cares…_ Inhaling deeply, the man with an IQ of over 200 continued his sentence. "Kazekage-sama," he said, addressing Gaara. The latter nodded, attentive.

"Like I said, I don't really like dealing with women, especially not right now – I have a tigress at home and a crow in my team… But… Like my dad once said… _No matter how strong-minded a woman is, she will show kindness to the man she loves_… So, well, Gaara…" Shikamaru paused, frowning despite himself. He scratched his ear again. "I can't really offer you any good advice on this issue as of yet but… Seeing as how you're already wed to Hinata, well, all I can say is… Make the best of it. You two might not be a pair made in Heaven, but… the challenge of marriage is to turn the words '_I Do_', into '_We Can_'," he finished. He smiled curtly, satisfied.

"_Or something like that_," Shikamaru muttered, inaudible as Gaara took a few seconds to process the information and the meaning behind Shikamaru's words. Temari stared at the shinobi opposite her, who was by then sighing again, as if that speech took out most of his chakra. She mused at the thought. _Still, though_, Temari breathed, in more awe than she'd like to admit at his words. She never imagined that Nara Shikamaru – _Nara Shikamaru_ – would have made such a speech. And God, that was _some_ speech.

"Thank you," Gaara finally said, ending the awkward silence that settled after Shikamaru had ended his last sentence. The door opened at that moment, and Tsunade burst into the room with her head held high. Ton-Ton came in after her, carried by a frantic Shizune. The trio warming the couch noticed the imprint of kanji characters on the Hokage's right cheek, as well as the dried drool that had probably leaked out of the left end of her mouth. Shikamaru gave his boss an apathetic sigh and Temari raised a suspicious eyebrow, while Gaara simply didn't bother to think much about it.

"I'm so sorry, Kazekage-sama, Temari-san!" the assistant-cum-everything-else of Tsunade bowed her head low in apology as the feisty female of the legendary Sannin dropped onto her precious red chair. She pouted, and was frowning extremely deeply, refusing to even look at her guests. It seemed as though Shizune herself was about to scream bloody murder at her master, clutching Ton-Ton tightly as she suppressed her inner desires. _Oh God, if only she could just lay a finger on that stubborn mule of a master…_

"I'm afraid Tsunade-sama is…" Shizune cringed, and Ton-Ton squealed – the pig was choking. Hastily, the brunette put the animal down, and it scrambled to position itself beside Tsunade. "Unavailable right now," she finished as Tsunade scoffed and turned her back against her audience. A vein popped in Shizune's forehead…

Shrugging, Gaara decided the meeting didn't matter that much. What he _really_ wanted, though… His blood boiled as he thought about it. "Let's go, then, Temari, Shikamaru," he commanded as he picked his gourd up and started for the door. Shikamaru exhaled deeply for the umpteenth time, and hurried after two of the sand siblings.

_Hyuuga Compound_

"What's wrong with Hinata?" Ten-Ten questioned the crowd Naruto had brought over to the estate again. She had hurried to the door the moment she saw a servant come over to relate the group's appearance, thus beating Neji.

They looked at each other once again, and...

**SQUEAL**

Her friends burst out in fresh peals of inexplicable laughter, and Ten-Ten frowned in annoyance. _What the hell…_ Before she could repeat herself with more force than question in her voice, Sakura managed to get enough oxygen to explain Gaara's words. The former heard snippets of sentences – _Global warming, thieves, a dictionary… What?_

"Y-you won't believe this…" the kunoichi with pink hair gasped, wiping the tears away from her emerald green eyes. "G-Gaara-kun, he said…"

Neji finally gave up on convincing his cousin to allow him into the latter's room, and since he didn't want to enter forcefully he decided to question her friends. At the same time, the 19-year-old Hyuuga wondered, rather irritably, why Ten-Ten was taking so long.

As he neared the gates, he could hear some muffled gasps and loud, deep exhalations of breaths. Puzzled, he stuck his head around the corner to have a look-see at the situation that had left Ten-Ten, as he was led to believe, incapacitated. One could only have imagined how far his eyebrows were raised in suspicion and curiosity as he saw most of them either lying on their backs or sitting down and slouching. _God,_ the man thought with disgust, _Hadn't their parents taught them proper_ posture_?_

"What's going on here?" he asked sternly, making his way to the site. Neji frowned and squinted, examining their blank expressions. Some of them had tear-stained eyes. _Just what…_

**SQUEAL**

Before the Hyuuga could react, the high-pitched yells of excessively gleeful laughter entered his ears and hammered mercilessly against the soon-to-be shreds of delicate skin that were, a few seconds ago, Neji's eardrums. His hands flew to the sides of his head, a desperate attempt to shield his precious passageways of sound.

_Banshee screams! Banshee screams!_ Neji yelled mentally as he collapsed onto the wooden floor and rolled around, his eyeballs threatening to roll backwards into his head. Tears pooled at his eyes, and he closed them tightly in a bid to block out the sounds. _Banshee screams! Banshee screams!_ The helpless Hyuuga rolled around the floor, his mouth agape in pain though no sound escaped.

The rest clutched onto their aching stomachs and their tears flowed freely, some of them even going red in the face. If laughing really did stimulate the stomach muscles, Ten-Ten would have developed a six-pack by the end of her laughing spree.

By the time Neji had realised the powerful presence in front of him, it was already too late. Resisting the urge to use his techniques on his comrades, the man with sensitive ears struggled to get onto his feet.

"K-Kazekage!" Neji whispered meekly, one eye still squinting. He noted the curious yet apathetic look the redhead directed to him, and added one more item to his _Why-I-Hate-The-Sand-Ninja_ list. It was childish, he admitted, but hey, they _were_ taking Hinata to some strange alien land where she probably would be the target of many more attempts on her life. The Hyuuga male snorted. _As if she hasn't had enough takes on her life already..._ "What do you want?" he enquired, trying to be polite but shooting him a wary glare.

Seemingly unable to see the horde of spastic Konohagakure ninja beside him, Gaara asked to see his wife. Shikamaru attended to his friends, eyebrows knitted upwards in a frustrated yet amused fashion. _Good God_, he thought, helping Ino sit up straight. The pony-tailed kunoichi let out a deep sigh as she calmed herself down. _After Hinata's marriage everything had gone downhill..._

Before Temari noticed, she had cast a glare upon the teammates, and upon realizing it she retracted her expression and hurriedly looked away. She could feel her face flush again, making it twice that day she had turned a different colour. Temari bit her lip in self-annoyance.

"Come on, I haven't all day," Gaara said monotonously, though his words suggested otherwise. Once again, Neji's eyebrows rose all the way up to his hairline, and Naruto and gang let out strange, strangled laughter.

Finally the Hyuuga acceded to the Kage's request, and led him to his cousin's quarters. "For the record," Neji muttered loud enough for Gaara and his entourage to hear, "I don't know if she's ready to see you again... And if you force this upon her like your fantasies and -"

"Hey, you're talking to the Kazekage here!" Temari shouted rather impudently, getting increasingly riled up as people persisted in addressing her brother rudely... She wondered if the whole mission was a scam - a scheme to improve her temper... Well, whatever the name, it was working. So far she had successfully controlled her anger for the three days she had spent in Konoha so far. Temari grimaced as she thought about the remaining duration of her mission. _Oh, dear lord..._

Neji's frown merely deepened - Temari almost told the white-eyed man that if he insisted on frowning, the lines he would get in his later years would be, well, rather magnificent, and not in a good way. The Byakugan user _hmph_-ed as he turned the corner, using his right arm to indicate Hinata's room and subsequently swiftly departing for the hospital.

"Well, Gaara," Temari smiled brightly, patting her youngest brother on his back gently. "Go for it! And this time... Please don't use Kankuro's loser pick-up lines."

He nodded in brief mortification, and glanced at Shikamaru - who had unofficially become his love guru. The Konohagakure shinobi smirked encouragingly, giving the kage a thumbs-up with his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Gaara slid the door open and walked inside, his bare feet feeling the coolness of the tatami flooring. "Hinata?" he called out in the room, and he shivered at the way her name left such a strange bittersweet aftertaste on his taste buds. _Weird..._ Gaara pulled the door shut behind him, took a step forward.

He could hear the muffled conversation between his sister and new friend; Temari declaring her deed for the day was done and that she should move onto planning the wedding again, since the people who could help her were already in the estate... Still relatively sane... Shikamaru asking her why she had just told him such a thing, and then Temari pulling Shikamaru away to help her. Their fading footsteps made Gaara close his eyes. They were like his heartbeat, _thump, thump, thump, thump..._

"G-Gaara-kun," the beautiful Hyuuga princess greeted as she stirred awake from her short nap. Hinata's own white, pupil-less eyes widened in temporary shock as she digested the fact that her new... _Husband_... Was inside her room. "What are you doing here?" afraid of his possible intentions, Hinata scurried to make herself presentable. She was about to grab her hairbrush before the redhead caught her wrist.

Ooh, it was slim and smooth... The pale skin wrapped around the bone, enabling Gaara to fully appreciate his wife's perfectly sculpted hand, from the tips of her splendid fingers to the brilliance of her unnaturally polished palms...

"Don't bother," he muttered flatly, and relaxed his grip as Hinata nodded humbly and shied away from him. She pulled her hand back into the embrace of her body - an action done a little _too_ quickly. Gaara frowned as he noticed this.

"Do you hate me?" the Kazekage asked, expecting her truthful answer. "Reply with verity. Do you fear me?"

Hinata looked at her husband for the first time since he had invaded her space. She saw loneliness, desperation... The girl swallowed. "N-no..."

Gaara's expression changed from a frown to an emotionless mask. He stared at Hinata blankly. "Alright then," the redhead muttered as he adjusted his posture, sitting cross-legged. "Someone once told me that love's first duty is to listen," Gaara quipped, building up his energy to form a smile.

Hinata stared at the man in front of her in surprise. She hadn't expected _Gaara of the Sand_ to be like this... When she first heard of her arranged diplomatic marriage all she though about was suicide. But now...

Sadness coursed through her bloodstream, filling her heart with hidden despairs and long forgotten desires... Tears poured from the edges of her eyes, she fell forward into Gaara's ready embrace.

"Why... Are you crying?" enquired the dazed kage. _Had he said something wrong?_ No, he shouldn't have - he had avoided all those pick-up lines he had memorized... _What... Why..._

"Thank you," Hinata said through her sobs, her thin fingers holding onto Gaara's shirt. "Thank you..."

His eyes widened at her kind words, he felt an alien, foreign feeling fill himself up from his heart. At first, he panicked - was this some sort of poison? But after a few seconds he seemed to have adjusted to it, and anyway it felt kind of... _Nice_... And... _Warm_... His chest swelled from the feeling, and all the effort he had been using to construct his smile disintegrated immediately.

For the first time in his adulthood, Gaara could _feel_ the oncoming smile, the curve already dancing on his lips. And then, he succumbed - he broke into a warm, endearing smile... A true smile, the emulation of all the wonder and radiance a smile was _supposed_ to have... Not unlike the smile of a newborn baby, innocent and heart-warming.

The feeling felt like electricity and it was stronger than ever. It didn't hurt him, though. It simply made Gaara feel... Better.

Slowly, gently, he lifted Hinata away from his shirt and amour, pulling her into a tight, protective hug. The girl rested her head on Gaara's chest, her inconsistent breathing brought on by the crying gradually stabilizing.

"Hinata," the Kazekage whispered so she could hear his thoughts. He started to rock sideways, a regular rhythm that reduced Hinata's sighs and gasps to slow whimpers. "Like I said, someone once told me that the first duty of love is to listen..."

"Mmm..." Hinata sighed in response, forcing the sound out of her quivering body. She liked the swaying... It comforted her... Like a child...

"So," Gaara continued, moving his arms so he could hug her tighter, pull her closer to his heart... Protect her from her demons... "I'm here to listen."

And as Hinata smiled weekly but contentedly, thanking the Gods for the man the Kazekage turned out to be, Gaara searched his brain for the word to identify that feeling that was still coursing through his entire being, making him feel stronger... And yet more vulnerable. The woman in his arms shed a few tears of happiness, of bliss, and she sighed for the last time as she said her first comprehensible sentence since their meeting.

"Gaara-kun," she breathed, her voice airy. "I think I just might... Love you."

Upon hearing that word the man froze in mid-sway, then he smiled once again as he rocked the girl left and right. That was it, that was the word he was looking for. Ironically the word he had tattooed on his forehead, the word he was craving for since childhood...

_Love._


	6. Chapter 5

"Girls, girls, girls!" Temari commanded, her voice a few hundred decibels higher than that of the din caused by overly enthusiastic Konoha shinobi. "And guys," the somewhat overbearing female added hastily, realizing that the males she had summoned as well actually turned up. To her left, Shikamaru let out a carefree groan. _Why am I here..._ the pony-tailed man wondered, not bothering to cover his mouth as he yawned. He could feel Temari's beautiful teal eyes glaring daggers at him.

Wait a minute. Did... Did he just describe the blond tigress' eyes as _beautiful_? What the...

Shikamaru would have liked to tell himself it was a slip of a thought, a random occurrence... But no, even the great thinker of Konoha himself could identify when he was falling in... The man cringed.

_Love_. Sighing, he fingered his symbolic earrings... Once he overheard a female student gushing over a male counterpart with her cynical best friend, who replied rather matter-of-factly to the former's much-fantasized about marriage plans with the poor boy. "I think I'd prefer marrying a man with pierced ears," the more mature of the two kunoichi said flatly, an eyebrow raised. "After all, they've experienced pain in a place not many men have and they've bought jewellery."

Upon recalling the incident, Shikamaru rubbed his thumbs against the balls. _Marriage, huh..._ He closed his eyes, tempted to exhale deeply again, but deciding against it. _Looked like the Nara curse was still running strong eh..._

The first Chuunin of his generation scratched the back of his head nonchalantly. Well... Slowly, he twisted his neck so he could scrutinize Temari's features. _Hmm..._ he thought as his eyes scanned the female physically next to him. Not too bad of a bust, but not better than Hinata's... Oh well, _that_ was forbidden territory, unless he wanted another war. No, he had seen enough bloodshed during the long-drawn battles against Uchiha Madara.

He tilted his head backwards, examining her facial features from a further distance. _Meh..._ Shikamaru frowned, knowing he was falling deeper and deeper into that downward spiral of despair... Not that he'd ever experienced it, anyhow. _As if I'd have a chance with her..._ the man mused at the thought, smiling for himself though he didn't really mean it. _She's probably going to get married off to some other lucky dude from another village... Or another country altogether... Like her brother..._

Shikamaru felt helplessness at this, sensing the oncoming tears. _Damn it_, he cursed himself, his eyebrows coming together as he clenched his fists and bit his lower lip. _Now she's going to tease me and call me a crybaby again..._

"Sorry, Temari," Shikamaru mumbled, turning his body so that all the people assembled could only see his back. "I've got something else to do. Bye."

The Sunagakure ninja frowned, then she shrugged and waved a passive hand. "Do what you want," she said, feeling quite offended. After all, the man decided he had something _more_ important to do after he had just practically spent half a damn day with her? She wasn't going to stay in Konoha for too long, and that bastard was just _throwing away_ their time together... Did she really mean that little to him?

Temari wanted to run after her colleague, to grab him by his pony tail and beat the shit out of him... And then seek his advice about her feelings for him. But no, she was strong. Mentally and emotionally stronger than most female shinobi. The blond woman always was, especially after the death of her mother. She didn't want _him_ to get her down, so Temari continued to order her fellow comrades, who were rather enthusiastic after finding out Gaara's earnest initiatives.

Extremely distracted and partially upset, the female wind user resisted a pout and looked over her brother's wedding plans. It would be a Shinto- style, traditional wedding, nothing less for the Kazekage. Though usually only family members attend the ceremony, Temari decided to bend the rules a little bit - every one of Hinata's friends and comrades would be allowed to go. Then they would follow to the reception and have a feast...

Yes, that would do. A few million, on the Hyuuga and her family's part - still, nothing less than a picture-perfect wedding for her youngest brother. Temari forced an assuring grin, trying to convince the Konoha ninja at her command that the wedding _would_ work out. "Alright then," her voice resounded throughout the spacious training grounds. "Let me tell you guys - and girls - what's on the agenda..."

_Meanwhile, in Hinata's room..._

The pair had stopped their gentle rocking, and now Hinata nestled in her husband's warm embrace, her eyes still closed, her frame now relaxed against Gaara's strong torso. They simply enjoyed the silence together, their thoughts about each other multiplying in their minds...

"Have you ever been to a Hot Springs bathhouse before?" Hinata murmured softly, her delicate fingers tracing the fabric of Gaara's clothing. He shivered, and he didn't really know why. Hm... This relationship has been driving and forcing him into unknown territory...

"No," he answered rather stoically, wondering where such things had come from, what had possessed Hinata to ask him such a weird question. "Temari and Kankuro have been patrons of one here... But they came without me, so no, I haven't."

Gaara felt his beautiful flower nod, her hair tussling. He felt her long midnight blue tresses brush against his crossed legs. The Kazekage knitted his eyebrows upwards, annoyed at his confusion at what was happening to him.

"I don't really understand the logic of a hot spring anyway," Gaara said, relating his perception of such baths to the girl. "You could just make a fire underneath your own bathtub at home and bathe in it."

Hinata constructed a mental picture, and she giggled with innocent amusement. "Gaara-kun," her smile spreading outward on her lips. "I... I think that's the equivalent of boiling yourself alive..."

Gaara contemplated her take on his. "Hm," he thought it over. "I guess you're right..."

"Do you want to try the hot springs?" Hinata enquired, thinking the hot water could soothe her relatively still-frayed nerves... "It's-it's a shame if you're here already and you don't want to try it... The experience is actually quite therapeutic..."

Gaara mulled over the temperature of the water, the fact that there would be other people in the bathhouse... Naked... Then he thought of Hinata's subtle insistence of his patronage... How he could make her at least a _little_ happier if he conceded.

"Alright," the kage finally said, and he waited for his wife to leave his arms... As she tore away from him Gaara noted that something felt like it was... Missing... Something that ought to be there and sharing his body heat and personal space... Wasn't there anymore... _Strange_, the word appeared in his brain... Ever since he met Hinata his composure was going haywire...

Gaara stood up, smoothening the creases the white-eyed girl had made. He picked his gourd up and slung it around his shoulders. Hinata put her usual lavender jacket over

her mesh shirt. "Let's go," the Kazekage said, monotonous, as he slid the door open and ignored the puzzled, suspicious looks Hanabi gave him.

"Onee-chan," the girl started, rather disturbed. "You know that Tsunade-sama said..."

Her sister flushed with embarrassment, and she shook her head quite violently. Gaara closed his eyes and sighed, a little amused. "Don't worry, little sister," he addressed, patting an awkward palm on the shorter girl's head. "Your sister and I didn't do anything illegal..." At his words, the kage pondered over their double meaning...

"Let me rephrase," Gaara mused over Hanabi's horror-filled expression, she caught the pun. Hinata felt faint behind her husband. "Hinata and I didn't have -"

"Aren't we going, Gaara-kun!" Hinata yelled, mortified by the thought of what he was going to say next. Flustered and rattled, the girl whose blush almost matched the shade of Gaara's own dark red hair seized his wrist and pulled him away. She turned her head in a flurry and ran through the hallway with the Kazekage in tow, leaving Hanabi flabbergasted and unsure of what she had to be done next.

"We're going to have to do it one day," the man said bluntly, shattering the thin silence that plagued the air as the pair walked down the path to the famous hot springs. Vexed, Hinata cringed at the very thought of the act - how embarrassing! How shameful! How...

_Ew..._

At her silence, Gaara seemed more bemused than ever. "Do you know how it's done?" he questioned, his hands relaxed. "Or would you like me to enlighten you?"

The poor girl nearly dropped dead. "P-please don't," she mumbled, her words barely audible. "I... I know the mechanics behind it..."

The Kazekage nodded, looked ahead. "Ah well," he sighed, unwilling to let go of this new fun. "Makes it easier then."

Hinata's face flushed more than ever, and her husband marveled at her adept ability to instantly direct blood to her head. She simply nodded curtly, her mind obviously thinking about his words and their meaning... As much as she would have liked to forget all about the conversation. The kage smirked a little, quite pleased with himself. And then he let the girl off, dropping the topic altogether. "Turn right, right?" he pointed to the fork in the street, guessing his way around.

The ex-heiress nodded, believing her voice would betray her unease and nervousness. What on earth had possessed her to ask Gaara out, anyway? She averted her eyes from her husband's body quickly, trying to keep the windows to her own soul occupied with other, less seductive objects.

Wait a minute. Did she just think of Gaara as... _seductive_? Hinata held her breath, realizing her mistake. _Wait..._ Was that a _mistake_? It was as though Gaara was messing with her head... And making every thought she had about him into a transgression. But hey, it wasn't as though she wasn't allowed to seek love and true affection in this forced and rather structured relationship...

If it were meant to be hers from the start, then she would end up with eventual happiness. Hinata was already starting to feel a _small_ connection with him... And however minuscule it was, it certainly _was_ there.

Her train of thought went awry as a deep, flat voice brought her back to reality. It was Gaara, and he announced their arrival. The girl smiled shyly, staring at the entrance.

"Are we going to stay the night? Or bathe and go?" Gaara enquired, at the front desk. The receptionist, a fairly middle-aged woman whose eyes sparkled in admiration and wonder at the oblivious redhead, had told him of protocol. Her words prior to his had come out with more stammering than the usual stutters Hinata had, but still, the Kazekage remained quite the innocent customer. His wife. on the other hand, had noticed this and pondered over just _how_ famous the man she had married was.

"Oh, my," the annoying lady gasped in self-induced embarrassment. She could recognize him, as the Kazekage, and that only made her sudden infatuation with Gaara expand. "I'm afraid only married couples or groups of children with guardians are allowed to share a room," she informs, knowing full well the pair in front of her were definitely not siblings... Or cousins.

Sure, he was the Kazekage, the shinobi who had rallied all five hidden villages of Konoha, Suna, Kumo, Iwa, Kiri... And the samurai from the Land of Iron. Gaara was hailed as one of the many heroes, a part of the noble group who had fought against Madara fiercely to bring peace... Gaara was famous, revered, acknowledged... Now all he needed was a wife, the personification of perfection, to complete the picture...

"I won't do anything to you, I still remember what Tsunade said," he mumbled bluntly, making the awkwardness level shoot through the roof. Hinata froze, and the world around her laughed at her unease. "Okay," he murmured, taking the girl's silence as consent. Gaara turned to face the starry-eyed receptionist. "A room, please."

Unable to resist his voice and subtle charm, the woman succumbed and led the pair to their room, Hinata walking as if she were walking on hot coals. The lady slid the door open, revealing a rather large room with tatami matting. "Here is your room, Kazekage-sama," the older woman said as she left in a hurry, giggling.

Gaara tilted his head a bit, quite puzzled by her behaviour. _Oh well_, the man dismissed the many assumptions that had appeared in his brain. _She's probably worse than Matsuri..._

Reminding himself of the girl back home, Gaara recalled the conversation they had before he departed for his omiai...

_Matsuri frowns, her fists clutching the material of her pants. She sits on a chair opposite the revered Kazekage, her tears held back by pure will. _

_"I... Why didn't you tell me," the girl sighs, her voice trembling. Her closed fists quiver on her legs, her entire body is shaking. But it isn't a question - even _she _knows it is impossible to leak such information to the villagers, be it her or anyone else. The Sunagakure can not handle this; since her days as a Genin her Sensei had taught and honed her skills, working with her even though she had been extremely hesitant with handling the basics of being a ninja - weaponry. _

_Matsuri wants to shout her love for the man sitting stoically in front of her, however she knows it will not change the situation. She knows... Because she knows he is the Kazekage._

_"You know why," he finally answers. Gaara attempts to keep his tone gentle - his first student is still very dear to him. His pale green eyes soften - he understands the feelings of abandonment Matsuri is feeling; he felt that way and worse when Yashamaru had betrayed him. _

_As his invisible eyebrows knit upwards, Gaara smiles a weak smile, a suggestion to the girl to cheer up. "Me being married isn't going to be the end of the world, Matsuri," the kage assures. "I'll be a little busier, but that doesn't mean I won't see you at all."_

_"Still, I... I..." his student's voice finally cracks, but she resists the tears. Having already pooled at her eyes, they are threatening to flow down her pale cheeks... Matsuri cannot cry, especially not here... Because the man who would witness the evidence of her sorrow and anguish would be her Sensei, her idol... Her Kazekage. "At least tell me her name, please..."_

_"I don't know her name."_

_At this, the girl's strong will nearly shatters, it is so unfair! She, she who has known her master for most of her life! She, who knows what he prefers to what he is indifferent to... She, who understands his actions without reasoning... She, who _truly _loves him. The kunoichi with brown hair slumps her head some more, vexed by her personal feelings for her Sensei._

_"Matsuri," he murmurs, and he lifts her face up to look at her. She bites her lower lip, ashamed by the near-appearance of potential tears. _

_"It's alright to cry," he says, and at Gaara's words the dam breaks, her emotions come pouring out of her eyes... There are just _so many _closed desires, _so many _oxymoronic feelings..._

_Hate, for the detestable woman her master is to marry, loathing for those despicable elders who arranged this abomination... Yet, the overwhelming love for the man himself that Matsuri is unable to abhor the Kazekage... Resignation, as she knows full well nothing she does will change the engagement... Despair, the girl is pumped with that; she can do nothing but watch, watch and congratulate the couple as the man she loves becomes entwined in a relationship she plays no part in..._

_Matsuri senses herself falling apart, the inconsistent spasms of her body as she gasps and sighs... The stickiness of her skin as the tears flow down, leaving a damp, hot, dry path... Before many other tears come one after another, a relentless waterfall of shattered dreams..._

_She would have recited the rule of shinobi, where a true ninja does not show his feelings nor his emotions... If she hadn't had become a damn wreck herself... "I-I'm sorry... It's just... I... Gaara-sama..."_

_"Matsuri," the redhead soothes, rubbing her shoulders rhythmically. "It's okay to cry."_

_As he finishes his sentence, a small knock is heard, signaling the end of their conversation. Gaara sighs, though his expression remains stoic and aloof. But Matsuri knows there is always more to him than that... She knows that he is forever thinking about something... _Would she know?

_The Kazekage picks his gourd up from the ground, ensuring his student has calmed down. And then, he turns his back on her, his eyes closed though nobody can see him. _

_Gaara walks slowly to the door, his shoes making the only sound in the dead quiet atmosphere. His right hand caresses the knob, knowing what he will have to face the moment he sets out from his office._

_"Matsuri," he says her name a final time, a sudden gust of wind entering the room. His bright red hair blows lazily to the right with the breeze, his left fist somewhat closed... The girl tries desperately to impart this moment into her brain, the last she'll ever get to see her first love as a bachelor._

_"I have to go now," Gaara continues, and the door knob turns slightly, the squeaking noise echoing throughout the hollow room. _

Please don't go, please don't go... Please don't..._ Begging the gods for him to turn around, to race to her and declare his love, Matsuri notices the searing heat of her once-again approaching tears... Her dykes are struggling against the weight of her emotions. She frowns deeply, pinching herself to keep those damn tears away. The kunoichi wants to move, to talk some sense into the man, to make him see what _she _sees..._

_The kage opens the door, the wood parts with the frame. His attendants wait patiently for their leader. He hesitates._

_"I'm sorry," Gaara finishes, and he leaves, her first love gone _forever.


	7. Chapter 6

_Matsuri._ Gaara wondered if she had been eating well. If she had been sleeping well. If she had been taking care of herself. He thought of his pupil's extreme admiration, of how she worshipped the very ground he walked on… How she would care for his pet cacti as if they were her own babies when his duties kept him unreasonably busy.

_She loves me_, the Kazekage sighed inwardly as his wife announced her departure for the women's bath. He waved an apathetic palm as she slid the door shut behind her. He thought about how her smile would light his days sometimes, yet annoy the living hell out of him during others. The redhead's mind wandered as little snippets of his life with Matsuri prior to the marriage flashed slowly in his head. The time when he felt indescribable joy at Matsuri's rather consistent successes as a Genin, then her continued triumphs as she progressed to Chuunin… When his fingers quivered and he felt dizzy as Matsuri taught him how to water his precious plants properly... The laughter he had managed while Matsuri came running to him one day in a fit of rage due to an embarrassing event…

_But do _I _love _her_?_ The question stuck in his subconscious, the possibility behind his answer torturing his curiosity. Gaara got up from the floor slowly, frowning as he pondered. _Do I _love_ her…_ he mused, mocking that fleeting thought he just had – that his feelings actually _affected_ the situation. He shook his head.

No, the papers had been signed and the alliance official. It would benefit both hidden villages, from increased revenue due to trade and potentially better ninja from other alliance marriages, with Sunagakure's top shinobi and having children with Konohagakure's own caliber of capable ninja. Just _imagine_ the amount of peace and security such long-lasting alliances would have... _Regardless_ of the serenity that had settled between all five hidden villages.

Still... That very word – _love_ – was still a relatively alien term to him…_What does it matter anyway…_ Gaara stood up, his legs stretching as he bent backward a little, then forming an inverted 'U' shape as his head and torso curved forward. His body was a bit stiff from the way he had been sitting.

Having adjusted comfortably to standing upright again, the kage strips himself of his amour, allowing it to fall and scatter on the tatami. He didn't have an answer for that question as of yet. In fact... What _is_ love? The redhead wonders if _he_ can ever love someone else - romantic love, true love... Or even, just... _love_.

Ah, so many things to do with love, but many questions that plague the subject. Gaara exhaled, exasperated at his lack of answers. Why... Why was everything so troublesome for him? From Matsuri to Hinata... He was pretty sure he would have stayed a bachelor for the entirety of his life should he not have been Kazekage... But he was. And it was his duty to go through with the marriage. It was his duty to see to the security and prosperity of Sunagakure.

Resigned, Gaara placed his metal body plating on the table, positioning them side by side. He walked slowly to the door, asking himself how on earth he had agreed to go. If anything, hot springs were... Well, hot, and they already had plenty of dry, scorching weather in the desert.

Oh. Speaking of which... The kage turned his head as he strolled down the hallway, following the signs to the male bath. He passed by the female bath, with the usual pink cloth that had the kanji for _woman_ imprinted on it draped around the entrance. _Her hair..._ his physical body probably the only thing of him present. _It'll be troublesome for her if her hair..._

Gaara stopped mid stride. He leaned against the wooden wall, thinking. _Did he just say something that indicated his care for Hinata?_ He creased his brow, fed up with his confusion. _Was what he had thought about for her sake? Was it proof of love?_ He wondered as he started down the hallway again, asking himself if he could _ever_ truly love a person.

_Meanwhile, at Shikamaru's house..._

"Dad," he said apprehensively, after minutes of quick mental deduction. With anyone else, what he was going to ask next would be redundant. After all, his father was the one who probably had the _worst_ luck in all the clan's history. The genius ninja's eyes darted around the dining area, ensuring his mother was still out grocery shopping. "Why did you marry mom?"

The question, as innocent as it was made Shikaku raise a suspicious eyebrow. Well, it wasn't everyday his son talked to him about things not convening shogi, or go, or new techniques to teach a 2-3 year old toddler... "Like I said before," the leader of the Nara clan replied, "She... Hm... When she smiles it's very pretty."

The son twitched in irritation. _Been there, done that_. "No," Shikamaru frowned, rubbing the curved area of his left earring. "I meant... How did you know you liked mom?"

Shikaku could barely suppress his chuckle. His previously stoic expression gave way to curiosity, and he looked at his son with amusement shining in his eyes. "It's the Sunagakure kunoichi, isn't it?" he teased, poking a playful finger at Shikamaru, who flinched in turn. "What's her name... Temari or something..."

"How'd you know," the younger man grunted, growing increasingly annoyed at his father. The older man threw his head back and emitted a deep, throaty laugh. Shikaku wiped a few tears out of the corner of his eyes, sighing as he caught his breath. He smiled.

"It's so obvious," the father related, lips curved upwards coyly, his head resting on his palm as his eyes wandered with the clouds. "Well, I don't know if it's just my intellect or it really is blatant... But hey, you two give off that _vibe_, you know?"

"V-vibe?" Shikamaru echoed, his vexation starting to show on his face. Was it really _that_ clamant? If so... Did _she_ also realise? Then...

"Hmm," murmured his father, scratching his chin. "I'm not really sure how to _describe_ it, son... But yeah. That vibe. Where you two like each other but both don't want to admit it? Yeah, something like that..."

"_Like each other_?" Shikamaru exhaled deeply. Like each other? They could barely _stand_ each other... Or so he thought. "But she acts as if I'm -"

Shikaku laughed once again. "Temari-san is, I bet, just like your mother... You should be the one telling her your feelings... You're a man, aren't you? And anyway you've got to teach little Asuma-kun as well, how to be a man... Since his father's gone."

"He's only 2, dad."

The man shrugged, snorted. "Yeah, he's only 2 and yet you want me to tell you some techniques you can teach him," he countered. "Well, this isn't a _technique_ per se... But it's more like leading and teaching by example, you know? For some reason I think your late Sensei would have said the same thing as me."

Shikamaru looked away from his father, his fingertips touching. He considered the older man's words. "You're right," the lazy man muttered, knowing his Sensei really _would_ have said the same thing... Probably. "Asuma would have told me to man up."

Shikaku noticed his son's resignation, his frustration. He gave Shikamaru an encouraging smile. "You've already proved that you're a man, through all those battles during the war," the head of the clan reasoned. "Now all Temari-san asks of you is that you show that side of you once again."

Shikamaru sighed. _Women are so troublesome..._ But before he could retort, his mother came home from her grocery shopping.

"Eh! Shikamaru! Shikaku! Get over here and help me bring these bags in!"

Her yell shattered the slow calm that had settled during his conversation with his father. Shikamaru creased in brow in annoyance. _Just as his dad was going to give good advice..._

"Alright," Shikaku smiled weakly, getting up from his chair. "We're coming." He turned to his child. "Come on, we've got to help mom before she screams the house down."

Shikamaru cursed under his breath. He wondered if history would repeat itself... If he eventually married Temari and have his two children...

He sighed as his mother's voice reached a volume that had been, till then, undiscovered by man. _This is why women are troublesome..._


	8. Chapter 7

"Ichiraku Ramen!"

That was the first thing Naruto hollered, the first thing he had said since Temari gathered them for the second time. She had asked Hinata's friends for suggestions on the food that would be served, and Naruto being Naruto proposed his favorite restaurant. However, his own friends apparently didn't share his sentiments.

"Are you really stupid?" Sakura reprimanded, her patience already gone. "Eat ramen at a _wedding_? At the _Kazekage's_ wedding at that! Are you faking your stupidity, because right now I think it's _beyond_ the normal level!" The irritation in her voice blew her fellow ninja away as she smacked Naruto twice across the head. Blood slipped out of the corners of his mouth, and Naruto flew to the ground.

They all cringed at the self-proclaimed future Hokage's idiocy, and Kiba rolled his eyes. "Red bean soup," the boy belonging to the Inuzuka clan offered. Shino caught his eye, and nodded. "And cinnamon rolls."

"No shrimp or crab," the bug boy added. "Hinata doesn't like them."

"In that case," Temari said, writing the ideas down. "Gaara's favorite foods are gizzards and salted tongue, so..."

Her audience flinched. A few pictured them on trays during the wedding... Unspeakable. "That's..."

"Disgusting," Sai rebutted flatly. "Even I won't eat those... And trust me, during my training I've eaten far worse. To be honest, I've tried gizzards and salted tongues... And they aren't-"

"I don't need to hear your personal experiences," Temari interjected, massaging her temples. "I've seen enough eating of it on Gaara's part to know that much... So we won't have gizzards, or salted tongues, or yokan, or marron glacé. We can have the red bean soup for starters and the cinnamon rolls for dessert. Gaara should be able to eat at least..." The blond kunoichi glanced at her side, feeling the empty space next to her, where _he_ should have been helping her... The sister of the bridegroom sighed. No matter, that lazy asshole or not, she had bigger fish to fry.

_In the Hot Springs..._

"How was it, Gaara-kun?" the girl asked meekly, after being comforted and relaxed by the steam. The pair had just left the baths, and now refreshed, they sat opposite each other once again, waiting for their early dinner. This seemed so much like their first meeting... Only the atmosphere was now less tense and more friendly, the animosity between her young family members and his own siblings absent. Perhaps, _this_ was how it should have went...

"Hot," the Kazekage muttered in response. It was true; for Gaara, the humidity in the bath made him sweat, and in contrast to the dry scorching weather of the dessert, _this_ made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. He hated the stickiness and the clamminess of his palms as steam and hot sweat dripped down his back, his shoulders, his cheeks... He absolutely abhorred it. Hinata's face fell slightly.

And yet... Feeling the release of his bodily fluids through his pores made him... Relax. He had exhaled deeply as he laid back against the stone wall, tilting his head backwards, closing his eyes. Sleep was still rather foreign to Gaara, though Shukaku was out of him the redhead was so used to his insomnia he rarely ever slept. However, that slow, lethargic mood just now almost made him nod off... If he had stayed any longer...

"But on hindsight I think it was... Like you said, a little therapeutic," the redhead added quickly, noticing his wife's crestfallen expression. At his words a small chuckle lit her face up. "Thank you," Gaara finished, and right on cue the doors slid open. The middle-aged lady came in with tray loads of food, setting up the wide spread across the large table, placing the chopsticks in front of each guest carefully, while not missing the chance to quickly caress Gaara's unsuspecting hand. The woman giggled in slight embarrassment as he gave her an elevated eyebrow, bumbling out of the room as she laughed to herself.

The Kazekage dismissed the uncalled touching, and looked at Hinata. The girl missed the whole scene, for she was far too busy admiring her dinner. "It's... It's... It's so beautiful... And there's so much food... Gaara-kun," she mumbled as Hinata's eyes devoured the feast in front of her. "Are you sure we can finish all this?" The amount of food could easily serve four ravenous grown men... And she wasn't even that hungry.

Gaara stared at the plates of sashimi, the bowls of rice, the several hot pots laden with shiitake mushrooms, boiled eggs, carrots... The countless side plates of sliced beef, of sushi, of tofu... He was somewhat disappointed. _No gizzards? No salted tongues?_ Regardless, the kage shrugged. "Eat what you can."

Hinata frowned, she didn't want to waste food, and it would be impolite to ask the lady to take it back... She sighed. Determinedly, the white-eyed girl pushed her yukata sleeve behind her elbow, and used her chopsticks to gently place two slices of beef into the sukiyaki pot. She then picked a slice of that wondrously fresh looking salmon sashimi, and gave it to her husband. For herself, she took one plate of grilled mackerel, and positioned it behind her rice.

The ex-Jinchuuriki had his eyes set on the little tokens of care she had given him. The fact that she actually _served_ him... Indeed, Gaara had already been served countless of times, some beautiful, some not... Some die-hard admirers and some indifferent bystanders of politics. Still... This felt a little different...

"Thank you," he finally said, picking his own pair of chopsticks and dipping the sashimi into the sauce. He brought it to his lips, and Hinata watched as he chewed. She smiled shyly.

"You're welcome." Her sweet, melodious voice charmed the man, her presence seemed to fill a void in him. _Was this love?_ But it didn't feel like the word... It felt like a _wanting_... A _needing_... Yet then again what would he know, he has never really felt love.

"I apologies," Gaara mumbled as he swallowed. He set the two sticks of wood on the small raised platform. "For dragging you into this union... It may have been my advisors and elders who proposed this marriage to yours... But I'm the person who agreed. And for that, I'm sorry for not thinking of your point of view. If you have other people whom you view romantically, I apologize..."

Hinata stopped. She copied her husband's previous action, and placed her palms on the table. The heaps of food were blocking the path that her hands could have taken to touch his, but that was fine. "Gaara-kun," she said quite gently, "I, too, also partially agreed to this..." As the girl recalled the conversation she had between her and her father, she suppressed a cringe. "So please, there isn't a need to apologize. If anything, I'm sorry for accepting this as well."

The Konoha kunoichi thought about what her life could have been if she had remained in her motherland. She would have been carted off as a wife anyway, and to a man either stronger than her or a man deserving of a woman with the Byakugan. Regardless, the cursed seal would not have been branded on her, and Hinata didn't like the prospect of being married to the Uchiha, nor her own cousin. However, Neji was a candidate as he had, undoubtedly, inherited exceptional talent, and besides - in the race to get stronger ninja incestuous marriages weren't that uncommon.

Unconsciously, the girl shivered. Just imagine if she hadn't followed through with the marriage... It was either Neji, or Sasuke... Naruto was never really an option, her father may have thought highly of the boy but her elders said he had yet to prove himself. And then Gaara appeared, an opportunity to start anew in Sunagakure, where the villagers would only know her eyes and not her own reputation. It was a chance, and she took it, either a life with the so-called '_monster_' of Suna or a life controlled by her clan.

And so she chose Gaara, she _chose_ him. Plus right now, her decision didn't really seem all that bad. The Kazekage _wasn't_ a monster, in fact he was rather a gentle, misunderstood soul. New to love, but quite cautious as well. It would take some getting used to, but Hinata was more or less certain she could, perhaps... Like him, at least.

"Don't be sorry," the girl said, smiling. He wondered if that was her hobby. "Because if it's you I don't think I'll have any regrets."

Gaara didn't know what to say. His expression remained stoic, but his mind was in disarray. Would the situation instantly become bad if he were to say this? Would it become better if he were to say that? The redhead was somewhat touched by her words, but not enough to jump for joy and proclaim his love for the world. No, it could at most push a little smile out of him.

He did what he thought was rational, what was reasonable. Gaara nodded curtly, and the calming atmosphere disappeared.

His wife became flustered immediately. Did she say something wrong? Did her words hold some double meaning, some negative connotations that brought back painful memories from his past? Or did he just not feel the same way? Her forehead creased as she attempted to figure out what went wrong.

And her husband, being the man he was, was also trying to understand why his wife suddenly started to sweat and frown. Gaara wanted to ask her, but ultimately decided not to worsen the heavy air settling around them. He kept quiet and started to eat again, hoping the whole thing would simply blow over. If anything, the Kazekage needed some lessons on human communication.

"Please... Please just forget about what I said," Hinata sighed, giving up. She had already tried to decode any insulting or bad implications behind her sentences in her brain, and she had found zilch. Thus she took it back, praying it would improve their suddenly bad relationship.

But Gaara was thinking. _Take it back?_ What... Why? Did she reconsider, and finally come to the decision that she just _couldn't_ love him? Did he disgust her that much, that she said that in the spur of the moment and then realise her mistake?

At the back of his mind, his voice of reason tried to convince him that was not the case. He could have just misinterpreted her actions, and vice versa...

Alas, the combination of a man and his knack of jumping to conclusions can prove fatal, and Gaara felt he had enough. From Yashamaru to his father, to the girl in front of him... All lies, all illusions... And to think he nearly fell for them all...

_No_, Gaara stopped himself before he could piss himself off more. He needed some time to think things through. Their union was too rushed, too ill-advised... People need more than a week to get to know each other, and definitely more than that to be able to live with one another. The thinking skills that he possessed as a Kazekage allowed him to evaluate at length, no matter how short it was.

Yes, he would need time.

"Please excuse me," Gaara said, the thin, tense ice shattering. Hinata would have been pleased at his voice, if it had not had such restrain and hurt in it. The redhead got up, leaving his share of food his wife had given him untouched, save for that fresh slice of salmon.

"Wait," Hinata breathed as she realised he was departing. "Wait, please."

Her husband shot her an estranged, apologetic look, one of confusion, of despair... Of bitterness. At her stunned silence he turned around and left, a fleeting thought, a hummingbird. He slid the screen doors shut, and Hinata could hear his rhythmic footsteps, fading away as he walked farther and farther away from her.

He left her.

_Just like that._


	9. Chapter 8

Failure. It was something she _was not_ allowed to do... And still, she committed the act so many times... _too many_ times.

She paid the price, of course. Stripped of her birthright, disregarded by her clan members... And then finally sold off to the Kazekage as a peace offering to a dispute yet to unfold, an alliance yet to be needed. Such were her punishments, and she suffered them with dignity.

But... Her most recent appeared to be the most disgraceful of them all. Just imagine, she was already deemed inadequate as Hyuuga head after her younger sister was born, then her own father practically disowned her upon her graduation at the academy.

It wasn't her fault so many freaking geniuses were born in the same year as she. Her only true advantage was her Byakugan, and with Neji in the picture she merely assumed the role as sidekick.

And now, she was demoted to a failure as a wife. Did she say something that made him unhappy? Was it her _fault_? About 6 more days till she would have to move to Sunagakure, 6 days to say goodbye to her old life, 6 days to redeem herself...

Hinata was extremely confused, _so_ vexed by the strange and sudden turn of events... She was just so tired... So weary... So fed up.

Lying down on the bare tatami floor, the girl closed her lavender hues, her emotions slipping through her clenched fists, her eyes the top of a waterfall.

_Over at the lodge where the Sand Siblings are staying..._

"Kankuro."

The man froze. Irritation, impatience... And was that anger? - were evident in his younger brother's tone. There was also some kind of restrain that clogged his voice... Kankuro gulped, his fingers stopped as his miniature puppets used for training dropped lifelessly to the floor. "Y-yes?"

Gaara narrowed his pale green eyes, he was almost frowning. "You're..."

His brother felt sweat trickle down the sides of his concealed face, his felt his voice box tremble. _All that improvement in his bipolar-ness! Just where had it all gone?_ He swallowed hard, his pupils dilated in relative fear. "I... I..."

"Not good with girls either, are you?" the redhead finished, sighing. Kankuro merely stared at his sibling in surprise, watching as the latter sat down. He felt his throat loosen, even by just a bit.

"W-what?" his voice was hoarse, raspy. His tone was nervous, though he felt his pores stop leaking sweat. His palms stop quivering. And then Kankuro realised his chance of redemption. "Oh! You mean... The pick-up lines didn't work?"

The kage cast the older man a wry smile. "No," he said softly, disappointment evident. "It didn't."

"Ah," the shinobi with purple face paint gaped at the earnest little brother of his. For once Gaara seemed to _want_ to establish a connection with her... Though unfortunately his attempt appeared to have failed. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, numb and quite relieved. "But," he then continued, perking up, "I know this won't deter you from further efforts right, Gaara?"

His brother stayed silent for a while, then his distant smile contorted into a pained expression; not so much a frown as it was a cringe. Yet it had confusion, hurt, sadness... He felt a plethora of negative emotions, wrought on by that disturbing _longing_ he seemed to suddenly develop... For _her_. And still he could not tell her how he felt.

Add frustration to that list of ingredients for an unstable emotional roller coaster ride.

"She said to forget what she said," was all the Kazekage could force out of his larynx. "She said..." A lump in his throat prevented him from repeating his previous sentence, and whether it was his heart or something else, he didn't know... Gaara tried to clear his windpipe, but all that came out was a strangled sound, a desperate cry.

"To forget what she said..." Kankuro echoed, attempting to comprehend what his little brother was saying, what he was trying to put across. "What... What did she say in the first place?"

"That..." the Kazekage felt something clench and squeeze his chest, out of the blue he felt as though a boa was constricting itself around his torso... His breathing slowed. "That she wouldn't have any regrets..." he said, choking back his confusion... "That she just might... _love_... me..."

The older of the two took a moment to soak the information in. "Ahh," he exhaled as he knew he would not die that day - Gaara was too preoccupied to even _think_ about killing. Kankuro pondered over the seemingly good news. What screwed it up and made her take back all she had said? He thought about the possibility of the girl toying with his brother. No - at first glance the puppeteer already knew she was an innocent, shy girl with good intentions. Then... "What did you say to that?"

Gaara's head recovered from its slump, his neck snapping up in instant attention. "Nothing," his tone suddenly changing to monotonous, though his expression still exuded one of intense vexation and hurt. "I nodded."

His older brother mentally slapped himself. Oh God, so _that_ was it. Christ - they really should have sent Gaara to social therapy. Kankuro sensed a laugh bubbling in his throat, and he suppressed it, not wanting to anger his younger brother into murdering him. "That's it."

The redhead arched an invisible eyebrow. "What's it?"

"Nodding - she might have interpreted it as you saying you didn't reciprocate her feelings," explained Kankuro, smiling to himself. There, at least his advice was finally of some use.

But the Kazekage's frown merely deepened. "I don't think I follow," he stated slowly, and he didn't.

The man with brown hair twitched in semi-annoyance. They _really_ should have sent him to those sessions... "For example..." he started, thinking of a valid model situation. "Well..." he fingered his chin, "think of it as... Alright, never mind." The man gave up, having failed to think of one. An awkward silence settled between the two siblings.

"Think of it this way," Kankuro proposed, finally having thought of an instance that more or less applied. "Your nod was equal to, well, not really answering. And usually with your common deadpan expression people would think you disagree."

Gaara took a moment to process the insight and evaluate it. He nodded slowly, thinking it kind of made sense. "Like if I ask a person if I could kill him and he doesn't answer, so I kill him anyway because I think he wants a quick death?"

The puppeteer raised his eyebrows, then smiled weakly - he was unable to elaborate or explain anymore anyhow. "Yes," he acceded, defeated by his brother's logic. "_Something_ like that."

The redhead averted his eyes from his brother's at this, and stared at the evening sun through the open window. "I see..." the sand shinobi mumbled, admiring the dazzling display of soft tones and shades that stained the sky. Baby pink, light purple, baby blue, a hint of yellow, and a few patches of white clouds... It was a beautiful sight. "The Sun's setting..."

The man covered with purple face paint nodded, making his chakra strings again. He attached them to the mini puppets that were previously on the floor. "Yeah," he said, "5 more days here, then it's back home for us."

Home. Sunagakure. Matsuri. _Matsuri_. The prospect of having to work with her - it made him hesitate so much he didn't hear the name escape his mouth.

"Matsuri?" Kankuro echoed, a little confused. "Matsuri? What about Matsuri?"

"Nothing," Gaara replied hastily - a little _too_ hastily. He exhaled deeply, not wanting to think of his former student. Not wanting to think of her love. Not wanting to think of her hate.

The Kazekage was afraid of his brother picking up on the quickness of his answer, but whether it was Kankuro ready to drop the subject or Kankuro being too preoccupied with his training, the latter shrugged. "If you say so," he muttered as he made a mini puppet jump.

"I'm going out," the younger man announced, standing up. At his older brother's acknowledging wave, Gaara picked his gourd up and left the lodge. "I'll be back soon."

_Meanwhile, at a restaurant..._

"Alright," Temari shouted to get the others to shut up. "Now that we've chosen the food and the decorations, we've got to choose the kimono."

The options were obvious, of course - Hinata being the bride would wear the uchikake, and the colour had yet to be decided... Knowing her extraordinarily limited preferences, the uchikake would most probably be a shade of lavender so light it could have been mistaken for white. Still, though, the sand kunoichi thought it best to ask. "What colour should the uchikake be?"

Naruto looked up from his rice. "Uchikake?" he echoed, his usual idiot expression starting to form on his face. "Whassat?"

Sakura was poised to deal her teammate a justified punch, with him being Japanese yet not knowing what an uchikake is... Then again, he isn't a girl; he wouldn't have dreamt of the day he would be wearing one... The girl with pink hair scowled in indignation at his ignorance, and flicked a grain of rice at Naruto's forehead with ample strength to emit a _thak_ sound upon impact.

Ino rolled her eyes, asking her girlfriend if the blond had always been that stupid, to which the latter nodded grimly. "If you really have to know, Mr. Imma-Be-Hokage-One-Day-Though-I-Don't-Know-What-An-Uchikake-Is, it's a formal kimono brides wear when they get married," she explained, using her chopsticks to flick another grain of rice to hit his cheek. Like Sakura's, it left a faint mark.

"Ow!" Naruto cried out in protest, rubbing the places where the organic bullets had struck him. He looked as though he was ready to throw his half-empty bowl of rice at Ino, who smirked in turn. The aspiring young man grinned playfully, and picked his ceramic bowl up, slowly aiming at a slightly horrified kunoichi.

He would have sent the bowl (and possibly Ino) flying through the wall, if not for one lone voice that suddenly interfered.

"Don't waste food, idiot," the voice muttered in annoyance, and everybody at the table turned around, since the origin was behind them. Temari's teal eyes widened in pleasant surprise, then she regained her composure and narrowed them. _If he was here..._

"And it'll be so damn troublesome for the owner to clean your mess up," he added apathetically, obviously questioning himself at his appearance. He scratched the back of his head, fiddled with his earrings. Then out of the blue a bigger, more robust and voluptuous man of the same age emerged from behind the former, licking his lips in eagerness.

"Chouji!" Ino screamed, instantly acquiring the attention of some other patrons. They shot her a disapproving look, to which the girl rolled her eyes again. "Shikamaru," she greeted the first man, "What are you two doing here?"

"Eating, obviously," the Akimichi grinned gleefully, settling down at the side of the bench and immediately ordering two more servings of rice and meat. "Shikamaru invited me, he'd thought you guys would be here. Smartness hits again, eh?"

Not bothering about an answer, Chouji started digging in. He slapped a few pieces of fatty beef onto the charcoal grill, his impatience mounting. Sai offered the man a disgusted smile as he witnessed the latter snarfing down some of the previously cooked meat with his rice, while Ino cringed but continued eating.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Temari questioned pointedly, realizing she _was_ hurt by his departure... A little.

The lazy brainiac sighed. He started to question his decision to return... But it would have taken time, and despite himself he felt he couldn't wait. So he made up his mind, and wanted to do it as soon as possible... Only right then it didn't look as if it was the brightest idea on his part. Oh well, after his speech to Gaara it would be best if he started following his own advice... "My dad said I should help; Hinata's a friend of mine, you guys are our comrades and friends as well."

"Kudos to Shikaku-san then," Kiba muttered, ignoring the irritation evident in Temari's tone. He moved a little closer to Shino, gesturing the Nara to sit and join them, and he did. "We're discussing the colour of Hinata's uchikake," the Inuzuka boy informed, still upset by his teammate's sudden entrance into matrimony... Without him. Kiba spat the word _uchikake_.

"Ah, what about the tsunokakushi?" Sakura reminded, with Naruto recovering from a harsh poke in his stomach. "It'll match the uchikake, right?"

Temari nodded, still partially distracted by Shikamaru's presence. She felt weird... Peeved but glad, when just a while ago all she felt was exasperation. Was it because of - _no_. She would _never_ be glad because of him.

"Hinata-sama's favorite colour is lavender," Neji interjected randomly, eating some rice. He closed his eyes as Ten-Ten smilingly passed a piece of white radish to the former. He nodded his thanks, to which the weapon user grinned and continued serving her teammate and herself.

"I think we all knew that," Kiba muttered, feeling a temper rising. He felt the urge to bite his chopsticks, and placed the pieces of wood down onto the table, suppressing it.

"Well," Neji said. "Uchikake are usually entirely white, or have red as a base colour. Hinata-sama isn't that fond of either, but I'd say white is the better bet. Her uchikake could be red with lavender cranes."

At the imagery, some shinobi contorted their facial expressions. Naruto, being the ninja lacking in artistic imagination, tried to draw the kimono in his head. "Awesome suggestion, Neji! And I never thought you would help!" the blond boy exclaimed excitedly, his little cartoon picture rather appealing to him. "I'm sure Hinata'll love it!"

His female teammate struck again before Naruto could brace himself. With a whack to the top of his head, he double over in excruciating pain...

"Idiot!" Sakura rebuked, frowning at him. "No offence Neji-kun, but personally I think it's a terrible colour combination!"

"You can't insult someone then say no harm intended..." Sasuke mumbled to himself, and the girl went as pink as her hair.

"Excuse me!" Neji said stiffly, rather affronted. If anything, he regarded the Hyuuga as the superior people in Konohagakure, second only to the Hokage. Personally, he absolutely dreaded the prospect of his clan being second to, of all people, _Naruto_.

Sensing an oncoming argument between Neji and the people who were against the idea, Temari opened her mouth to speak - only to be beaten by Shikamaru. "Everyone!" he shouted to shut his comrades up. They did so, staring at him in slight indignation.

"Why not every one of you submit designs for Hinata's uchikake? This is a mission of the highest importance for all of you," the excellent strategist announced diplomatically, making a mental note to beg Tsunade into making the whole marriage affair an A or S rank mission. "The ceremony is only in four days, our time is extremely short. Finish eating, go home, and think of your idea. I want your designs on paper, give them to either Temari or I by midnight tonight. The both of us will be at my house."

The woman he mentioned joined the others in staring, her eyes dilating in shock. What... _His house_? Did he just say she'd be with him in his _house_? They wouldn't _possibly_ be - she nearly fainted - _alone_, would they? A swarm of relatively embarrassing questions regarding the man's proclamation flooded Temari's mind, she felt a little blood rush to her face. _He wouldn't... No, it was impossible... Was it?_

"Fine," seethed Neji, and Sakura exhaled in exasperation.

"Alright," the rest agreed, and hurriedly finished their food. Upon departing, they started telling each other about their ideas, though Kiba and Shino were strangely quiet throughout - especially strange for Kiba.

Chouji finished the last portion of beef and his last bowl of steamed rice. He leaned back, satisfied with his dinner. After informing his childhood friend he didn't have the originality nor the interest to partake in the improvised 'competition', the future head of Akimichi clan left cheerfully. "Thanks for the good food," the kind man grinned, clutching at his firth bag of potato chips that day. "Just like the old days, huh?" Having thanked his friend, he walked home.

Shikamaru smirked. "Old days, huh..." he echoed, a nostalgic array of images flashed repeatedly, Asuma, Asuma. Asuma... Asuma Junior...

Temari cleared her throat, attempting to break the awkward silence. That broke the relatively newly appointed Jounin ninja out of his reminiscent reverie.

"I'm sorry," the remaining two people left in the yakiniku restaurant first said in unison. "Ah," the both of them gasped simultaneously. Then the pair felt blushes creeping up their faces... "You first," uttered the duo correspondingly. They were almost at their wits' end.

"Stop copying me, asshole!" Temari accused, eyebrows knitted. It was irritating, hearing him say her words with her. It was exasperating. It made them seem as if they were a couple, completing each other's sentences. It hurt.

"You're being unreasonable," Shikamaru retaliated in a softer volume. He was slumped against a wooden pillar, slouching. He could drop his intention, throw it all away; it would be far less troublesome... But no. This time he was determined to follow through. He realised he could not bear to marry... If it wasn't her.

"Temari..." he sighed, wistful. Was he really going to say it?

"What?" her crabby voice answered, she was trying to conceal her unease...

"Temari," Shikamaru closed his eyes. "I don't know what you'll say to this... And I think it'll be less of a hassle if I don't tell you... In fact I nearly didn't, but after prompting by my dad and possibilities of what Asuma would've said... Which is if you ask me an indication that I've been thinking and missing him too much... I decided I'd follow through with this."

The teal-eyed ninja could hide her vexation no longer. "What are you -"

The sand kunoichi was interrupted by the leaf shinobi, as he gently pressed his thin lips against hers. Shikamaru, as inexperienced (_or so he claimed_) as he was, had his head tilted to one side, and he slowly teased Temari's own lips apart with his tongue.

The girl didn't know what she was doing. She was panicking, actually. And when one panics one follows one's instincts.

So she opened her mouth to his.

All of a sudden Shikamaru pushed himself on top of her, and Temari landed on the ground. The pair still connected, the man of the Nara clan played with her tongue, wrestling, and his cool breath washed over her. He supported himself with his arms, and his elbows buckled as he bent his torso lower. A bit of weight pressed onto her body, all she could do was attempt to seize control.

But... she didn't want to.

Temari's muscular hydrostat traced his gently, as Shikamaru decided to wrap his around hers. It seemed as though he was the subduer, while she was the subdued.

And then, as sudden as it started, it was over.

Shikamaru pulled back, sitting upright, as he licked his lips - an image that somehow held mysterious charm and sensuality to Temari. She used her thumb to wipe a drop of saliva off her lower lip. She felt... _Strange_...

The sister of the Kazekage locked eyes with the man opposite her as she got up. After a few seconds he tore away from her piercing gaze. _Oh God..._ he thought, marveling at the act he had just performed. The shameful act. The disgusting act. The kiss.

"Shikamaru," she started, her initial restlessness now through the roof. _What just happened? What did he just do to her?_ Why didn't she stop him?

"Forget what I said earlier," he cut in, unwilling to hear whatever she could force out of her scandalized lips. "Forget everything," Shikamaru said, now having mustered up the courage to establish eye contact with her. If he was serious about this, he should at least look at her.

His tone was one that far surpassed sober, though it wasn't grave. "Forget it," he breathed, determined to finish what he started. "Because I love you."


	10. Chapter 9

"No."

The word came crashing down onto her; all it did was amplify her despair. She nearly broke down, and it was sheer will and fear that kept her composure. Her body stiffened, she felt cold sweat drip slowly down her temples. She bit her lower lip, and her eyebrows knitted upwards.

Having left the hot springs about an hour after the Kazekage, the girl went home. She didn't know what else to do, where else to go.

"B-but..." Her stutter had returned, after a few years of relatively stable speech. Throughout the one-sided conversation she hadn't had the guts to look him in the eye, for all she thought she would have seen were harsh disappointment, a hardened heart.

"No," he repeated. This time force was evident in his voice, and she knew it was the end of the discussion for him.

At her vexed silence, he sighed. "The papers have already been signed," he reminded, judging by his tone it was as if he held some kind of grudge against her. "You should know how much shame and dishonor it would bring to our clan should you call it off."

She nodded meekly, her resolve absolutely crushed. "I know," she whispered, her own voice weak and cracking... Oh how she hated her usual small voice, how she abhorred that additional semblance of weakness. And she did know - she knew well, too well, for she was commonly the harbinger of said shame. To think - she thought she would be able to redeem herself by agreeing to this... Apparently not.

"Then this conversation is over," her father closed his white windows to his soul in outward irritation. It wasn't as though he was incapable of love, merely if she was deserving of his love. And more often than not she wasn't.

He stood up from his sitting position, walking toward the door. Hiashi had bigger, more important things to do; he didn't have the time to play the affectionate daddy to his daughter. "If you need somebody to whine to," he told the girl as he was halfway out the door. He didn't look at her. "Go to Hanabi or that girl who's always with Neji. I don't have the patience nor the availability to sympathies with you." Having said that, the head of the clan departed.

Hinata exhaled deeply. She felt the potential tears threaten her eyes, the sensation that befell her nose as she wiped away her damp hues. _Stay strong_, she told herself. _Stay strong._

With newfound purpose and determination, Hinata waited till her father's mighty, commanding footsteps faded away, after which she decided to retire early; the next day would be a long one. She was going to ensure she executed everything on her agenda.

_At the Hokage's Office..._

Tsunade cringed at the redhead, who had barged into her sacred temple of smuggled booze and ultimately halted one of her attempts to drink the holy sake. Knowing full well Shizune would soon follow after the man - screaming politely about how he couldn't enter uninvited and unannounced - the gambler hastily stowed her godly cup and bottle in a drawer. "What can I do for you?" she asked courteously, though the heated question was said with vehemence.

"I'd like to talk, Tsunade-sama," Gaara answered coolly, deciding to ignore her hurriedly kept sake. "It's regarding my marriage."

Before Tsunade could reply, a predictably annoyed Shizune skidded to a halt at her office door. "You can't show up like this, Kazekage-sama!" she scolded, her face knotting up into a frown. "Please understand that even though you're the Kazekage there are rules and protocols to follow!"

Gaara simply snorted. "Of course I understand. The same thing applies back in my homeland. I'm here because it's urgent."

"Let him speak," Tsunade sighed, unwilling to hear the argument that would ensue between her ally and her assistant.

"In private," Gaara interjected, and Shizune nodded slowly before closing the door behind her.

"You can continue," he said after the door clicked shut. He gestured to the compartment that held the illegal alcohol.

Tsunade smiled, gratified. She told the man to sit down, and tentatively took her cup and bottle out, as if he would jump to the door and shout for Shizune the moment the instruments used for the act of drinking appeared. He gave her a suspicious look as the cup and bottle was set onto her desk. The Hokage looked over her shoulder, the window behind her, making sure Izumo and Kotetsu were still outside.

Slowly she poured the liquid into the cup, her eyes twinkling. Gaara coughed, and Tsunade looked left and right before downing the contents.

"Thank you," she grinned as she relaxed in her chair, her eyes closed. She was undoubtedly extremely satisfied, having had her fix. "Now," she smiled at the Kazekage, who nodded brusquely, acknowledging the need to keep it secret. "What are you here for?"

"Advice," Gaara answered, his pale eyes unwavering. "I can't find Shikamaru, plus Neji and Hanabi seem unhelpful. Temari's gone out, Baki's somewhere, and I tried with Kankuro. So I thought I'd ask you."

"About the marriage?" Tsunade poured herself another cup.

"No," Gaara replied. He placed his palms on his laps. "About girls."

The blond woman nearly spat out her liquor, her eyes bulging. She choked and gasped for air as she swallowed her precious liquid. "My God," she coughed, hitting her chest. "You came here to ask me about _girls_?"

"Yes," the redhead frowned at her reaction. "Is it funny?"

"No, no, God no," Tsunade hurriedly assured. She inhaled and stretched horizontally. Then she poured herself a third cup. "You could've asked Naruto and his friends," she suggested. "Sai would have been more than able to help you."

"I don't really know Sai," Gaara rebutted. "And he isn't a girl."

The Hokage thought of Naruto's oiroke no jutsu, and she snorted with laughter. "Ah well," she chuckled, "No he isn't." She smacked her lips after she drunk her third cupful of sake. "So what do you want to know?"

"Well," the Kazekage murmured. He hesitated. "I'm inexperienced in things like these," he started, and Tsunade nodded, giving him a cheeky wink. "So first I'd like to know what I should and shouldn't do."

"Do you like her?" the question came almost instantly, her abruptness came as a shock to him... Somewhat.

"Yes," Gaara mumbled, his response barely audible. He still wasn't really sure, if he loved her or not, but it didn't really matter, did it? He was consulting the Hokage because he just wanted to make the marriage work.

"Then tell her!" the Hokage yelled. She was showing a few signs of intoxication... But he couldn't tell. "And I know you're anti-social, so don't ever shut up. If she asks you a question, answer with your voice! If she says something that makes you feel something else, express your feelings with your voice! Whatever you wish to say to her, say it! Hinata isn't a mind reader, no matter how good her use of the Byakugan is. If you don't tell her she'll never know what you're thinking."

He nodded, understanding her logic. Now he felt stupid - _He shouldn't have done what he had done! _The kage spoke with clarity juxtaposed to the almost slurred speech that plagued Tsunade's words. "And what else should I do to allow her to feel alright and relatively comfortable around me?

The Hokage laughed heartily, but shut up after realizing Shizune could have heard her. She tipped her fourth cup, and pulled out another cup from underneath her desk. "Physical touch," she said matter-of-factly, wagging her right forefinger in the air. Gaara felt a small shiver and her flushed cheeks. "Is the most reasonable thing to do," she continued, half smiling. "Hug her, 'accidentally' touch her hands, her wrists, her legs..." she burst out into shy chortles at the last suggestion.

"I... I see," he answered slowly, taking mental notes. "Hokage-sama, I think you should stop with the –"

"Nonsense!" Tsunade giggled like a schoolgirl, dismissing his own advice with a wave of her hand. She filled her fifth cup of sinful sake as her ally watched in perpetual horror. "I do this all the time." She grinned, and gave him a weak thumbs-up sign.

Gaara swallowed the lump that had gathered in his throat. "And what of the consummation..." the word nearly induced a stutter. He shut his eyes in embarrassment, but the Hokage was quite drunk, and she couldn't sense the awkwardness that started to plague the air.

Tsunade started snickering again, much to his vexed chagrin. He stared as she poured sake into the extra cup she had taken out, as she downed her sixth cupful and served herself a seventh. He backed away slightly as she swayed toward him, both cups in hand. The blond woman collapsed onto the couch opposite the one he was sitting on, but made sure none of her prized liquor escaped the confines of the cup.

She snorted to herself, and offered the extra cup to the apprehensive redhead. "As for sex" - now that word made him squirm - "I'd advise the both of you do to it intoxicated," she pushed the cup into his hands, and winked mischievously, a strange sly twinkle in her eye.

_Meanwhile, over in Ten-Ten's room..._

"I can't do this," Neji cried out in frustration, one of the rare moments where he allowed himself to express his emotions. He'd always felt strangely at peace when he was with her, a sensation accompanied by one of freedom; he felt as free as a bird. And now all he was thinking about was his exasperation.

"Calm down, Neji, geez," the girl said irritably. She had originally brought the man over because he said he hadn't had any colour pencils or pastels in his room, and he had too much pride to ask Hanabi. Now he was acting like a child, making her feel like inviting him over was a huge mistake that would soon cost a few million brain cells.

Ten-Ten threw her pencil to her desk that the Hyuuga was using. Imagine that, she even let him use her desk, while she did her work on the soft mattress of her bed - which wasn't a very stable surface. "Look what you did," she scolded as he turned around. She picked her paper up and shoved it in his face. "Now it's ruined!"

The coloured drawing that occupied the page was done with meticulous care, even Neji knew that once he saw it. The lines outlining the uchikake had smaller lines inside it, and some lines were in different colours. Subtle dragons and cranes adorned the would-be fabric, coloured in layers consisting of a plethora of colours; exquisite colour combinations Neji could not recognize. She even added a back to the uchikake.

And then there was a sharp, jagged ugly pencil mark down the edge of the right sleeve. Unconsciously, Neji winced.

He looked up tentatively, for she was a woman and all women seemed to have omnipotence when angry. Slowly, he passed the paper back to her. "It's beautiful," he complimented, and he meant it, he really did.

Still, Ten-Ten snatched the offering. "Not anymore," she scowled, evidently incensed. "Do you know how long it took me to colour in the cranes and dragons?"

The white-eyed male glanced at the hanging clock. "About an hour," he calculated. Wow, was it an hour already? Then he looked at his peeved teammate, apologetic. "I'm..." he hesitated, unsure of his sacrifice of his pride. Ten-Ten raised an eyebrow, concealing her extreme anticipation at what he would say next.

"Sorry," the word came out through grit teeth, and his face contorted into one adopted by a child who had to force every ounce of his strength in order to say that blasted word. He had his fists clenched, as though that action would absorb some of his impatience. Neji was a Hyuuga, and he viewed weakness as unspeakable. He viewed saying sorry as a weakness, and hence almost never apologized.

Except for, well, maybe Ten-Ten.

She grinned slyly, all her previous enraged thoughts and murderous fantasies forgotten. "I didn't hear you," she announced. Her smile stretched so wide she could feel her facial muscles stretching. The understatement came out as more of a taunt, leading her male counterpart to flinch and look away.

He gnashed his teeth together; she heard it and her smile grew wider. "I'm sorry," he spat out, perfectly enunciating each syllable with absolute intonation. Neji detested the situation he had gotten himself into, he felt like Ten-Ten had become omnipotent. He felt powerless. Worthless.

It was times like these that he abhorred his friend. And yet... Many more times when he utterly enjoyed her company. The latter was to be expected after all, since...

She shrugged, then grabbed an eraser and started doing away with the ugly line. Neji watched as the mark disappeared with every rub, eventually disappearing altogether. He thought of his kind cousin.

"Ten-Ten," he sighed, his own anger vanishing. The girl looked up, and smiled again, only this time it was warm and inviting. She knew what he was going to do.

Her smile reached his own face, and Neji felt the sides of his mouth twitch. He moved toward her in one swift motion, swooping onto her bed and holding her in his strong arms. She let out a small, startled gasp. Then she frowned slightly, breaking off eye contact from him.

"We shouldn't do this," Ten-Ten muttered, all of a sudden she was angry with herself for allowing him to hold her. "Not again."

Neji stayed silent for a while, and the kunoichi thought he was going to let go. "You're right," he finally said, "We shouldn't."

"No," Ten-Ten agreed. "We shouldn't."

"I'm tired of following rules," he grunted, then Neji pressed his mouth against hers. The pair twisted their bodies to accommodate each other, Ten-Ten kissed the man hungrily, desperately. Her passion, her despondence consuming her so she didn't notice the slow stream of tears.

Neji fed her voracious appetite with equal eagerness, then he felt the wetness of her cheeks. He broke away abruptly, and she clung onto his white top. "Ten-Ten," he frowned, worry plain on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Shut up," she answered, and forced herself on him. "Just shut up."

And so he did. Neji knew her parents were out, thus resistance had been vanquished from his mind. Right then all he could think of was the aching sensation between his legs...

He pushed her gently down onto her back, heard her precious paper crinkle as she hit the bed sheet. Shit, he thought briefly as he filled her mouth with his tongue. She's going to kill me for that later.

His concern for his life after the deed was done was cut short by the girl below him. Ten-Ten's hands roamed free over his back, and one palm undid the lone button on the front of his shirt. The fabric split, revealing Neji's virility at its best - his muscular torso, the firm six-pack that adorned his abdomen. Then she forgot all about his strong back, and her kisses replaced her hands, working their way down from his jaw, to his neck, to his chest...

Neji heaved a pleasurable sigh as Ten-Ten sucked a little at his neck. He shuddered as she moved on to his stomach. Then he participated more actively when he unbuttoned her shirt, when they cooperated and he threw her other useless articles of clothing onto the parquet floor.

He snuck his hand into her pants, and he felt her stiffen as he pushed a finger inside of her, pulling it out then thrusting it back in. The girl gasped sharply, her pants were rhythmic and sensual. She continued her mission to explore his body with her lips while he focused on the treasure. The man kept his mouth busy by tasting the sweet skin of his lover, her collarbone to her shoulder blades, to her chest.

His mind wasn't functioning - it almost never did whenever he and Ten-Ten had sex - as he added another finger. And then another.

Her breathing became irregular and sweat mixed with her tears. Ten-Ten, hot and wet, clasped her lean fingers around Neji's erect manhood, and it was his turn to pause. She could barely force out her plea, a raspy, dry, seductive "_I want it_".

Neji nodded hastily, followed by the graceful movement of setting her at a 45 degree angle before entering her without warning; she always liked the suddenness. Ten-Ten squealed and sighed with ecstasy - or was it despair? She didn't know - as both of them adjusted into their positions. And then he remembered.

"Shit!" he cursed sotto voce, but loud enough for the girl who had her eyes closed to frown somewhat. "The condom..."

"Forget it, I don't care anymore," she insisted, sitting up straight, making Neji lie down. Ten-Ten started moving her hips atempo, she heard a stifled moan. She could feel the warm stickiness of her tear-stained cheeks, the swollen feeling in her eyes. But she didn't care, she just didn't care anymore.

Her lover stared at her, suddenly thinking of the first time they had engaged in sexual behaviour. It was a few months ago, when both of them were drunk from a sake party hosted (illegally) by Tsunade. He was reminded of her willingness to pounce on him, so much so that he had to tackle her and cut off some of her chakra at one point; even though Neji was drunk he could still think straight... Well, at least until she took her clothes off. Let's just say his self-control just went downhill from there.

But the Hyuuga was too distracted by the tightening walls around his phallus that contracted even more with each hip thrust to think any deeper. He felt was the extreme ecstasy wrought on by the girl on top of him, the girl who danced a dance that was the epitome, the embodiment of sex and pleasure. He shuddered in said feeling.

And yet... All he heard were her moans and soft exclamations of his name. All he saw were the few drops of tears that dripped from her jaw as she panted and gasped. All he felt was the impending sense of looming danger and doom.


	11. Chapter 10

Neji looked over at his lover, his white eyes half-lidded. She was asleep; probably exhausted from all the hip movements she had done... And the crying.

He blinked. _Crying?_

And then Neji recalled what had just happened a half hour ago, before both parties fell prey to slumber and fatigue. Sex was, ultimately, the most energy-consuming thing he had ever done. Scenes from their pre-marital sex act replayed in his head, and he sighed wearily as he looked for the headache that seemed to be missing.

Missing. Absent. Gone.

Where on earth was the hangover? The aftereffect from all that alcohol he would have drank to make him stupid enough to do it with her again? The Hyuuga male sat upright, expecting a sharp pain in his head to hit him like never before. He expected nausea to consume him and puke putrid vomit, all the chyme in the pit of his stomach to come pouring out of his body through his oesophagus. He expected to feel his throat and mouth parched and as dry and the scorching sun.

Only he didn't. Neji didn't feel any aches or pains - he simply felt tired. He didn't feel any elements of regurgitation coming up his throat or up his nose - he merely felt tired. He didn't feel like he was dying of thirst - he _just_ felt tired. Then his brain clicked and whirred, the gears slowly started to move again. Don't tell him...

He _hadn't_ been intoxicated with alcohol when he had sex with Ten-Ten? He swallowed, then realised the dryness of his pharynx. The Hyuuga closed his eyes silently, recalling the things that had been done just half an hour before. The overwhelming torrents of sinful pleasure drowning him, the sensual sounds that bounced off the four walls, the hotness of the room...

The loneliness he had sensed.

And the lack of a condom.

"Shit," he cursed sotto voce, the horrifying fact dawning on him. _We didn't use a condom_, he was panicking inside, _we didn't use a damn condom_. Neji felt many more expletives bubbling in his throat, but he did not have the strength to say them.

He looked at the sleeping girl next to him, stark naked save for the thin blanket that covered her body. He could almost make out her pert mammilla. She breathed slowly, her chest rising and falling. Then what he saw made Neji stiffen sharply.

Small, subtle, minute drops of salty water trailed from her lidded eyes to the tip of her jaw line, where they then trickled slowly onto the pillow. Memories of his childhood flickered in his brain; when he was four and just branded with the seal, fresh kill at the hands of the main family... When he was seven and the pain of losing his father still haunted him at night... Neji hadn't cried at all during those times - his father told him to be strong, and strength meant no tears. He later also found out it meant no heart.

Surely his father never meant for his son to kill his emotions? _You live_, he had told him as he patted his bandaged head. Surely his father meant to live his life to the fullest, _with_ feelings and drive?

Numb, Neji watched over Ten-Ten calmly. His posture slackened, he bit his lower lip. And as his white eyes remained unwavering, he could not feel the tears.

_Over at Shikamaru's House..._

"I'm not lying to myself," Temari resisted, apprehensive. She had dashed to the sink upon reaching his home, and washed her mouth with water. After much annoyed sighing on Shikamaru's part, he had offered her some tea, inviting her to a spot on the sofa.

But he understood the logic behind her denial; even for a woman she possessed a high level of pride and independence. He had known all this ever since he met her, having only ever utilized such knowledge when he was deducing the possibilities. Resigned to her predicted behaviour, the brilliant strategist glanced at the clock. It was nearly eleven, and they had yet to receive a submission.

Shikamaru exhaled once more. After walking to his room, a series of knocks and collisions were heard. He then came back and set a set of 48 colour pencils, pencils and an eraser on the dining table. Before he sat back down opposite Temari, he had taken a few pieces of blank white paper from the paper box.

"I think we should design something ourselves," the lazy genius suggested, his back to her as he bent over in his chair to begin outlining the uchikake. He stopped midway and stared at the girl, who had till then set her eyes on him in puzzlement.

Temari's wandering mind snapped back to reality after the man asked her what was wrong. "Ahh," she gasped softly, placing her cup onto the stout rectangular surface in front of her and then making her way to the dining table. Her chair scraped against the floor as she dragged it and sat down, making the same sound again when she moved it closer to the table.

"Aren't you going to start?" he enquired passively. His outline was finished, then he starting penciling in the inner lines that added definition. His hand was steady, his mind more or less focused.

"I... Can't draw at all," she confessed awkwardly, as if that were the ultimate sin of all sins - the inability to draw. Temari threw her hands up in defeat, despite having made no attempt. "I can fight to the death, or fight a losing battle with everything I've got, but I just _can't_ draw."

Shikamaru gave her a suspicious look, and then he mumbled something before sighing for the umpteenth time. He moved the paper he drew on toward her on the table, then passed the set of colour pencils to her as well. After that he fished a fresh clean piece of paper from the small pile.

"Here," he mumbled and she looked for the irritation in his tone, yet she found none. Instead the sand kunoichi could sense... Affection... And amusement. She didn't know why, but... It made her twitch. "You can add the fine design."

The man hesitated. Then he added, "If you want to. Don't do it if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you to do it."

Temari frowned, obviously perturbed by his niceness. "About what you said earlier..."

"I do," he interrupted bluntly, by then he wasn't looking at her. He already started doing another outline for his own design. "Love you, I mean."

"You say it so smoothly," it came as a small accusation; she thought his ability to declare his affection made it insincere. She thought he was lying, manipulating her into willingly cooperating with him. She felt her facial muscles tighten.

"I say it so readily," Shikamaru murmured, loud enough for Temari to barely hear it, "because it's the one thing that's going through my mind now... Because with you next to me I can't focus on anything else... Because it's true." He turned to establish eye contact. His face exuded determination and resilience. "Temari -"

"I heard you the first time."

"Then what about your answer?" his tone softened, it became a sort of placating voice. Perhaps she sounded impatient when she said what she had said - the kunoichi didn't know herself. Nevertheless, the sister of the Kazekage felt nervous cold sweat trickle slowly down her temples, the humidity at the back of her neck.

She thought of what she had felt whenever he left abruptly without warning - vexed, incensed, helpless... Then after the emotions had finished flooding her, she would catch herself; why _would_ he have to tell her his every move anyway? What obligation of that sort did he have to her?

"I'm not like you," she first started, shaking her head. She could sense his face falling. "I can't express my feelings or my thoughts so easily like you. In fact, I hardly doubt anyone can, apart from small innocent children."

_Damn_ was the first thing that came to mind as he heard that. _Maybe I _have_ been spending too much time with Asuma..._

"Either way," the sand shinobi continued. "I'd like some time. As of now I'm still quite unsure of my feelings for you - if I even have any of that sort at all, actually." She hardened her expression. "Whether they are neutral, positive, negative, or even" - she almost cringed at the thought - "_love_, I think I'll let you know when I've sort them out."

Outwardly, Temari appeared cool, level-headed and logical. Yet she was cursing herself for not being able to drive that façade into her very consciousness. For inwardly she was in turmoil.

_I'm lying_, she told herself in the comfort and privacy of her mind. _I'm lying, I'm lying, I'm lying through my damn teeth._ The blond woman flinched as she watched the Konohagakure ninja nod in agreement, then resume his artwork. Sometimes he glanced at her and their eyes met - but almost instantly afterward he'd look away hastily, as if looking at her was a sin.

_I _do_ love him,_ she reminded herself, _but I'm too much of a damn bloody coward to tell him..._ Temari sighed in self-annoyance. _I'll tell him_, she resolved, _just not now... It's too soon._

As she was about to pick a colour pencil, the doorbell was rung. The pair glanced at one another before averting their eyes quickly, getting up and walking to the door. It was Naruto, Ino, Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hi Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted, his energy still at a high though it was already past eleven. "Here is my design!" the blond male grinned and passed a slip of paper to his friend.

"Here," Sasuke grunted, giving his. The girls smiled as they handed theirs over.

Shikamaru nodded and thanked them, then they were on their way. After he closed the door the man placed the four drawings onto the table, and he told Temari to come and pick whichever one she liked most.

"Shouldn't we just get the kimono maker to make all four? Then Hinata could choose herself," she answered, giving her refusal in two taut sentences.

He rolled his eyes exasperatingly. "Well yeah, I'm not stupid," he snorted, then laughed a little at his subtle joke. "I want you to pick one so I know what you'll be wearing when you get married."

Temari's face contorted in slight anger and embarrassment. "Don't you think that's going too - "

"So help me," the man from the Nara clan interrupted, his tone was weary. "Can _I_ help it? People think about this stuff when they're in-"

"Stop," she breathed, and she felt her chest tighten. Temari rounded her things up and hurriedly headed to the door. "I can't work with you like this. Not right now. I'm going back."

"It's not safe right now, it's already past eleven," his voice was tainted with worry - she hated how he cared for her, hated how she hadn't had the courage to say what she had for him. "Let me walk you home."

"No," the blond shinobi replied, halfway through the door frame. "I don't need your protection. I'm a ninja myself you know."

To that Shikamaru laughed good-naturedly, realizing how his affection started to cloud his knowledge and thinking. How _she_ was doing that. "I guess you're right," he conceded, though he still felt concern in the pit of his stomach. Then his head clicked up and she saw his eyes soften with defeat. "Be safe."

Her chest became tighter, she almost ran out of his house. Temari was frowning all the way back to the lodge, and with the nagging thoughts about her real strength, about her love and his plagued her mind, she could not feel the warm wetness of her cheeks, the cold droplets of salty water splash onto her open toes. Temari could not feel the beads of frustration and self-loathing leak through her teal eyes, nor could she seem to taste the saltiness of the liquid that sometimes met with her lips.

_Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office..._

Shizune was, in a few words, absolutely incensed and downright terrified as her eyes feasted on the scene in front of her. She could have fainted, but that would just make things worse. After all, what would happen if someone else entered her boss' office when she hadn't cleaned the mess up? The result would be disastrous... Though she couldn't deny Shizune thought the Hokage rather deserved it.

"Izumo-kun, Kotetsu-kun!" she called out to the men guarding the building, and they dashed to the office. Once they got there Shizune saw the veins popping up from their foreheads, their necks and their temples.

"Ah... Ha... Haha..." Tsunade's drunken voice drifted over to them and invaded their ears - it only made Kotetsu angrier.

Still, what _really_ shocked them was the twitching redhead opposite her, who had collapsed on the couch. Gaara was sprawled out over the sofa, an arm and a leg dangling over the edge. His hair matted together with sweat, and his face had a little tint of pink to it.

Shizune nearly threw her master out of the window. "What were you thinking, Tsunade-sama?" she started to rebuke the wasted woman, "I'll tell you what you were thinking – nothing! You weren't thinking _at all_, making the Kazekage-sama drink alcohol, getting him drunk!"

She sighed, and shifted her attention to the unconscious Kazekage. "Kotestu-kun and Izumo-kun, please deliver Kazekage-sama to his siblings." The brunette could already feel a headache coming on.

"Understood," Izumo sighed smiling weakly despite himself. He tapped his partner on his shoulder in a bid to tell him to contain his anger. The two men picked the redhead up and rested each of his arms onto their shoulders, hobbling off.

"He'd better not puke on us," Kotetsu mumbled, wanting very desperately to vent his anger on his boss.

After their departure, Shizune started twitching. "What am I going to do with you," she sighed, sitting down on the sofa. "You're never going to learn, are you Tsunade-sama? I mean, I tried everything, including forcing you into those weekly alcoholics anonymous meetings but you threatened to kill every single one of the members inside. It's just… One moment, just one moment I take my eyes off you and bam! You've just got the Kazekage wasted. You're just so _stubborn_."

A few seconds later, the drunk blond started hiccupping, and her assistant nearly jumped. "Hee hee hee," she giggled stupidly, an idiotic grin plastered on her satisfied face. "He came into my office…" her breath stank of liquor and her speech was slurred; it only made the brunette even more angry. "To ask me about _girls_," she finished, then burst out into peals of slow laughter. "Girls… heh heh heh…"

"Girls?" Shizune echoed, puzzled.

"Yea, girls," Tsunade winked, and she lunged for the liquor container. Shizune swiped it away just in the nick of time, making her master scowl. "Give it back," she warned, though it seemed as though Tsunade was trying to discern the identity of the woman in front of her, who had the guts to take something from her.

"Over my dead body," Shizune refused, before getting up and running to the open window.

"No!" the Hokage screeched, stumbling as she stood up. She swaggered over to the brunette, but alas it was too late.

The niece of her dead lover poured what was left of the liquor out the window, and Tsunade collapsed into a crumpled defeated heap. "No…" she moaned, mourning the loss of her precious sake. She really wanted to drink that! "Do you know pain… Shizune…"

"What did you tell the Kazekage-sama?" the younger of the two asked hotly, her eyes narrowed into angered slits.

"Heh," her grin replaced the previous pained expression, and she pointed an accusing finger at her companion. "You buy me some more sake, I'll tell you word for word…"

Shizune shook her head in disgust. "No way," she answered, and then she placed the small container onto the desk as she walked over to her master. "Come on, Tsunade-sama, let's get you to bed."

Her master mumbled something incomprehensible as her student aided her, and Shizune rolled her eyes while she made mental notes about her drunken behaviour. They left the office and proceeded down the hall, with Tsunade's sandals dragging on the floor.

"Shizune," she sighed slowly, her tired eyes closed. Her breath still smelled of alcohol, but this time her tone was more subdued and less slurred.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

The blond Hokage smiled serenely, knowing she could depend on her little student. "Thank you."


	12. Chapter 11

Hinata awoke the next morning to the cheery melodies of the birds outside her window. She would have sat by her window the entire morning, had she not need to fuel her resolve. A sigh was the first thing to escape her lips, but she left the warmth and comfort of her futon anyway. She _had_ to sort it out, sort everything out.

The ex-heiress was halfway to her father's room to bid him goodbye before she left, but she caught herself. She turned around after reminding herself of the truth. The raw truth, the fact that he probably didn't care. The fact that _she_ barely cared anymore.

_Over at the Sand Siblings' lodge..._

Temari didn't want to look at him. She didn't want to touch him. In fact, she didn't want to think about him.

However it seemed she was unable to do so, for he was lying facedown on the tatami floor, his gourd carelessly left to lean on the door. He must have returned in the middle of the night, as when she arrived he still wasn't there. The blond kunoichi furrowed her brows - first Shikamaru now this. She wondered if she could retire from being a ninja and make a career out of creating trouble.

Dismissing that ridiculous thought, Temari proceeded - hesitantly - to gently awake him from his stupor. The air surrounding the man on the floor was a little stale; the stench of alcohol had waned. She stopped dead in her tracks as her brother shifted in his sleep and mumbled something in coherent.

The blond kunoichi placed her palm on the man's shoulder, and she rubbed it gently. "Gaara," she urged, softly at first as she didn't want to wake her other brother. "Wake up, it's unsightly for you to be in this state," Temari chided, and the redhead in front of her stirred; his forehead creased as his eyes shut even more tightly than before.

His sister used more force, making Gaara finally open his dark eyes. He sat up slowly, registering his surroundings. "Where am I..." was the first thing that escaped from his lips, his tone raspy and dry. The Kazekage rubbed his eyes, still rather tired.

"At the lodge. Where _were_ you last night?" Temari questioned, her expression less than pleased. Her brother rarely drank alcohol, and even then he would only drink minuscule amounts to be polite. Still, she never imagined Gaara's tolerance was that low, nor did she ever think about how pathetically helpless he would have been when wasted.

"At the Hokage building.," he answered, quite dazed. Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose, frowning as he did so. The kage felt terrible; his throat was parched, his clothes were soaked with sweat, his head was pounding mercilessly, and his stomach was...

Gaara lurched sideways away from his shocked sister, the putrid refuse that had suddenly risen up at the back of his oesophagus pouring out from his mouth. He gagged on his hot vomit, and his head spun harder. The disgusting mixture of regurgitated solids and liquids pooled at on the floor, spreading out evenly.

Temari gasped in horror, then instantly jumped up and backed against the wall. The stench slowly crawled up her nose, and she could nearly taste it at the back of her throat. Gaara coughed, clearly extremely uncomfortable. He wanted to brush his teeth immediately, and he quickly got to his feet, trying to get away from the vile bodily fluids next to him.

Vertigo slammed against him, however, and the Kazekage barely managed to stagger three steps before collapsing onto the floor again. Gaara let out a small groan as his eyes closed, unconsciousness claiming him once again. Temari cringed at her added responsibility, and she hurriedly woke Kankuro and Baki up from their peaceful sleep.

Both men balked at the prospect of having to clean vomit up - Kazekage or not - so Baki went to look for a cleaner. Kankuro raised an eyebrow as he crouched over his brother's frame, after which he and Temari dragged their brother to the bathroom to wash up.

"Where was he last night?" Temari frowned, taking the amour off. She placed them outside, reminding herself washing it was probably a good thing to do. Her teal eyes closed as she told Kankuro to proceed with bathing Gaara.

"Where were _you_?" Kankuro fired back, rolling up his sleeves. He heard the windows open while he undressed his sibling. Gaara's apparel was damp with sweat, and the puppeteer quickly opened the bathroom windows. The older brother tossed the clothes haphazardly in a laundry basket. He grunted as he lowered his brother into the bathtub. "If you were here he'd probably wouldn't have gone out and gotten drunk."

"I was organizing the wedding," Temari defended, poking her head out the open window. She enjoyed the gentle breeze that caressed her face, but suddenly her lips felt cold. "Where'd Gaara go anyway? You were supposed to watch him."

"He went out," Kankuro replied, moving the showerhead over his brothers'. The conscious man saw the sweat get washed away by the water, he thought he saw Gaara heave a relieved sigh. "He said he'd come back soon."

"Well, yeah," Temari said cynically, "I bet that was before he got wasted." Her head turned as the door opened, she saw Baki and the cleaner enter the room. The half-shrouded shinobi chuckled sheepishly while the old lady shook her head in dismay. A long, tired sigh was heard but she took out her artillery of cleansers, bleach and newspapers as she set to work.

"It's not my fault he got drunk. You and I both didn't know he'd become _this_ bad when drunk." Kankuro used a sponge to lather his brother's torso. It felt unusually hot, and he felt worried. The puppeteer touched Gaara's forehead.

"Temari," he said, his voice tainted with concern. "I think he's burning up..."

She didn't have time to think, the blond kunoichi dashed to the bathroom and the door swung open with a bang. Temari ignored the fact that her brother was stark naked, that he was perpetually unconscious, that if he weren't he would have engulfed her in his sand coffin. Baki frowned, and walked quickly to the bathroom. He poked the uncovered side of his face through the doorframe.

Her hand came over her youngest siblings' forehead, he really _was_ burning up. Orders left her lips like bullets from an automatic machine gun, and her ex-sensei and her brother hurriedly carried them out.

Gaara was carried out of the tub, and dried off with a towel. He was quickly clothed in thin plain white kimono, then Kankuro and Baki placed him on a cool futon. Her first brother started fanning her second slowly, gentle gusts of manmade wind while her ex-sensei went to fetch a shallow pail of cold water from the sink.

Temari went to the bathroom as well, and grabbed two face towels. She folded one so it could rest on his forehead, and she rolled the other one so she could wipe his sweat away. As the sister of the Kazekage dabbed at his temples, she thought of Shikamaru, of how she could possibly find the time or the energy to love someone like him.

_Meanwhile..._

Ino smiled slyly, her grin setting on her face, giving it an eerie feeling. "I have an idea," she announced, with her back resting on the couch. Sai, who was next to her, asked her what it was.

The Konoha 11, plus Sasuke, Sai and minus Hinata, Ten-Ten, Neji and Shikamaru, glanced up at the Yamanaka. Suspicion shadowed Kiba's face, but Chouji paid her no special heed and continued with his potato chips.

"Well," she started rather excitedly, almost bouncing on the settee, and nobody noticed the small, crooked smile on Sai's pale face. "It's about three days till the wedding, so why don't the girls take Hinata out on a girl's night out while the boys take Gaara-kun out for a bachelor party?"

"Awesome idea, Ino!" Sakura chimed, already planning out in her head the things she was going to buy. Her arm was around Sasuke, but surprisingly Ino didn't seem to mind. More surprisingly was that Sasuke didn't have that deadpan expression on his face…

"Eeeewwwww," Kiba balked at the idea of having to spend an entire night with the man who was going to take Hinata away. "I don't even like the guy."

"Well, _I_ think it's a good idea," Shino interjected, and all of a sudden all eyes were on him. It was strange – when he wanted to he blended into the background, but once he spoke his voice and words made everyone sit up and listen. "It would be a good opportunity to test Gaara's competency. Only then will I be either at ease with Hinata being with him… or otherwise."

Kiba contemplated this. He shrugged after a while. "Alright then," he conceded, "I guess you're right."

"I'm always right," the bug boy felt a smirk sneak up his face.

"Tonight?" Naruto beamed, already looking forward to it. His blue eyes flickered over to where Sasuke's own hands started to move and settle over Sakura's arm, and he felt something stop… A twitch replaced his smile.

The rest nodded in agreement. "Alright then, tonight it is!" Lee announced, and the girls squealed with anticipation. Oh, the fun of shopping around Konoha for things they didn't need! The kunoichi left shortly afterward, looking for Ten-Ten.

A still silence settled in the room after they departed, Naruto's smile disappeared completely and he bit his lower lip in frustration. He had seen it – the scene kept playing over and over in his head, torturing him… The blond boy closed his eyes, recalling the movement of his hand, the muscles that tensed and relaxed as he did so… He obviously hadn't been imagining things, and he knew that. Yet, if he could just _pretend_ that never happened…

"Naruto."

His name was called, and his snapped out of his reverie. He glanced in the direction where the sound came from, and Naruto found himself looking at Sasuke. He felt his own muscles contract.

"I've been wanting to say something…" the man with onyx eyes hesitated, and the pair drifted over to everyone's faces. "I need to talk to you."


	13. Chapter 12

"Oh," Ten-Ten sighed, her tired eyes examining her two friends. Sakura and Ino stood in front of her, the doorframe being the only thing between her and them – and Ten-Ten was _very_ tempted to close the door in their faces… Still, that wouldn't have been very polite of her, would it? So Ten-Ten just stood there stiffly, not wanting to invite them in but unwilling to chase them away.

It wasn't as if she was severely or adamantly against the idea of a '_Girls' Night Out_', followed by a sleepover. In fact, she rather liked the prospect of an informal goodbye party for her shy friend – after Ten-Ten and Neji secretly got together she had instantly gotten closer to Hinata, and by that time they were as close as sisters… Well, more or less. Anyway, the brown-eyed kunoichi would have wanted one such outing herself, a fun night that allowed for the trading of juicy gossip, dirty jokes and the fresh manufacturing of relatively harmless rumors.

"Listen," Ten-Ten hesitated, but she moved aside and invited her friends inside. "Why don't you two sit here and wait? I'll take some time to shower and stuff." She didn't bother to guise the tire in her voice, nor did she want to. Something within her wanted Ino or Sakura to pick up on her tone, or her weary expression, or even the hideous bags under her eyes, and then ask her what was wrong.

It was attention seeking and shallow, but somehow Ten-Ten quite liked being attended to, or fawned over. She detested that attribute of hers, and reprimanded herself for even thinking about such a thing. Besides, all Ten-Ten wanted to do at that point was to cry herself to unconsciousness, or sleep, whichever one came first. It seemed the pain of Neji leaving again before she could say goodbye was too much for her, and the next time she met him she swore to have a serious talk with him.

The weapons master saw her guests sit comfortably on the sofa, and they fan girl-ed animatedly about Sasuke; his new clothes, how his hair looked slightly longer than it did yesterday, how his arms appeared more toned than it did last week...

Ten-Ten didn't stick around to hear the rest of their mindless chatter. Soundlessly, she walked calmly to her room, and gently closed her door shut. As the wood clicked into its frame she heaved a sigh of relief, but something on her desk caught her eye.

As she proceeded slowly to her table, Ten-Ten realised it was Neji's design of the uchikake. She picked it up and examined it closely. Well, Neji wasn't lying when he said he couldn't do it. The outline of the ceremonial kimono was uneven and jagged; the designs consisted of childishly cartooned rabbits and poorly doodled peaches. She wondered if Neji was colour blind, for the colour scheme he had chosen was chili red for the base, and a dark yellow with a greenish tint for the overlying designs.

Long story short, Neji's artwork was painful to look at. Still, Ten-Ten sat on her bed with a soft thud, and she noticed her own piece of crumpled art next to her. Clearly, someone had slept on it, because its edges were rather bent inwards, and the piece of paper was extremely crumpled, with extra creases adorning every fold. She picked her own paper up, and she had Nejis' in her other hand.

Ten-Ten knew hers was salvageable. She could iron it out with a real steam iron or just place it under thick volumes of encyclopedias. She stared at Neji's, then at hers, and then at his again. After a few moments the kunoichi arose from her bed and stuck Neji's piece of smooth paper onto the wall above her desk with four little blobs of blu-tack.

A brief glance was all she spared for her own piece of work, and then she didn't give it a second thought anymore. Her piece of work in hand, Ten-Ten held it as she walked to her adjoining bathroom, making sure to toss the crumpled paper into the bin. Her mind wandered off to Neji as the warm water splashed over her, and she forgot all about it.

_Over at the boys'…_

Naruto was on his friend in a second. He had his forearm on the latter's chest, and his dominant arm was poised to deal a knuckle sandwich to Sasuke's jaw. Naruto's tone was taut, low, and his speech came out more as a growl.

He grit his teeth. "You say that again."

Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Lee, and Sai stared at their two comrades, but their eyes locked predominantly onto Sasuke, who had his back to the floor. His jet-black hair splayed around his face, and the Uchiha was glad Sakura and Ino were gone. His onyx eyes hardened, and his lips settled into a tight line. Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes, his expression apologetic yet unwavering.

He closed his bloodline. "I –"

A crunch was heard after Sasuke uttered that syllable, and for some reason the Uchiha didn't move despite knowing Naruto would have done it. Chouji looked away, but Shino placed a hand on his shoulder, and so the kind Akimichi reestablished his gaze. A few marks formed and a bruise bloomed on Sasuke's cheek. He tasted metallic blood at the back of his throat.

"I deserved that," he admitted, and spat a few droplets of crimson blood. Sasuke turned his head so he could face Naruto again. "But if you try that again I can't guarantee I won't retaliate."

"It's not right, Sasuke," Naruto mumbled, but he nodded and got off his friend. "Not right…" The blond withdrew from Sasuke, and sat against the foot of the sofa.

"As wrong as it is…" Sasuke answered, sitting up and rubbing his cheek. "It's the truth. You can't change the truth, Naruto. You aren't _that_ invincible."

"But if she's done that, then…" Naruto's mind wandered off, and he started rocking himself back and forth, back and forth.

Sasuke shrugged. "They're orders. I'm lucky you guys even accepted me back into Konoha after the war." He shook his head, bad memories replaying in his brain. "Besides, if I refuse someone else is going to have to do it. And I don't like the thought of someone other than myself doing that –"

"Why do you care so much?" Kiba interrupted, his tone low and rough. "You've already gotten enough blood on your hands. Why add to it?"

"This is crazy. It's suicide," Lee interjected, frowning. "As strong as you are, Sasuke-kun, they are much stronger, and when their forces are combined…"

"Does Neji know?" Chouji questioned, his expression grave.

Sasuke glanced at his comrades, then at Naruto. He nodded briefly. "He's the one who's been the informer."

"But why would she want them dead?" Chouji murmured, unable to contain his curiosity. He slowly averted his eyes, unwilling to look at his comrade directly.

"I didn't ask questions," Sasuke shrugged, frowning. He rubbed the back of his neck, tilting his head accordingly as he exhaled deeply. Naruto stared at his friend, solemn.

"They're her family," Naruto interjected quietly. "The least you could do was –"

"I didn't ask questions," the Uchiha snapped, and his eyes flashed a dangerous blood crimson.


	14. Chapter 13

At the Hokage Building…

Tsunade wondered if her predecessor felt this when it was his choice, his turn - the impeccably wrong sense of foreboding, with a tinge of regret and a dollop of wariness. Her eyes went over the man's frame furtively, narrowing as they saw the peaceful serenity of the village behind him. She sighed, unwilling to relay the orders that would forever condemn him and his family.

"It's out of my control," she started, speaking her mind. It was, really; it seemed she was just the figure head and paper work completer of Konohagakure- those irritating pig-heads of elders never seemed to be satisfied as situations worsened with their participation and input, and said participation and input continued unabated. "I didn't initiate this -"

"With all due respect, Tsunade-sama," the shinobi interrupted, strangely calm. His piercing gaze was steely as it bore into her conscience. _It wasn't right, it wasn't right..._ "I couldn't care less."

He continued, "So please tell me why I was summoned here." The ninja crossed his arms, his long sleeves flopping over each other. It was inappropriately comical - he looked almost like a deranged preacher of a sage.

"To report on the progression of the mission," the Godaime Hokage answered apprehensively, nearly appalled by his cold response. She sighed, resigned. His decision had been made up, and the result was more than apparent. "The mission will be carried out by the end of the month. A person has been selected."

"Then the wedding-"

"It will be done after the wedding, when Hinata has moved over to Sunagakure. I will ensure Hanabi is out on another mission at the time of the deed. You won't be there either," Tsunade confirmed.

"Is that all?"

His coldness should have been the norm for her, yet this time his tone had something extra... It felt like he had detached himself from all other things, an emotionless killing machine. But what of it? Wasn't that what ninja were supposed to be? The rule flashed in her mind - Ninja never show their emotions.

"Neji..." she started as he turned around to leave. The Hyuuga turned around, solemn. Though he managed to mask his weariness, his irritation with consummate skill, the legendary sannin saw things people just _couldn't_ conceal - the way the ends of his lips twitched as he heard his name, the sudden contraction of his throat muscles as his eyes hardened some more, the faint frown lines that adorned his forehead.

"What is it, Tsunade-sama?"

The Hokage's own tired eyes closed, her fingers massaged her temples as she leaned backwards. She gesticulated to the locked wooden door. "Call Ten-Ten here."

[Meanwhile]

"I'm sorry," was the first thing that escaped his lips as he rubbed his eyes. The lingering sensation of nausea still plagued him, but now it seemed like he had nothing more to puke out; and for now it was safe. He slowly sat up, blinking. For some reason his head was aching, and he wondered if it was because of the Hokage.

_Oh snap. The Hokage._

Apprehensive, he glanced at his sister. She was sitting beside him and staring, but what she was staring at he didn't know. Her eyes seemed to be glazed over, and it was if she was staring straight through him.

"Temari?" he mumbled tentatively, wary of a potential torrent of harsh lectures on conduct. Still, it seemed his sister was dazed - she completely ignored him.

"Temari," he repeated more forcefully, and this time she snapped out of it. The blond kunoichi snapped her head up slightly, this time her eyes really focused on _him_.

A brief wave of anger and confusion washed over her, but it faded away as soon as appeared, so Gaara wasn't sure of what he saw. "How are you feeling?" she asked, frowning. There was a grouchy undertone to her question, and all Gaara gained from the enquiry was more confusion.

"Fine," he answered, dismissing the dull ache in his head. His eyes glanced furtively over to his armor and his gourd.

"I gave you some medicine, but you're going to need some rest for the time being, alright?" Temari sighed, getting up. She had ordered Kankuro to find lunch or disappear, and after an hour she wasn't sure if Kankuro really _did_ disappear.

"What happened?" Gaara enquired softly, hesitant due to the potential hazard in asking. He would have willed his gourd to him, but he felt his absolute defense on his skin and wondered if doing so would make him seem like a paranoid schizophrenic. Subconsciously, he rubbed the back of his head.

The Kazekage nearly flinched at his sister's response: "_You got wasted last night, you cheeky little bastard_."

It was curt and distracted – Temari usually instantly dove into the details and although Gaara wasn't sure if he wanted to know the full extent of his drunkenness, he did think it was rather strange – and Gaara knew something was up. "Anything else?" he prodded, and _then_ Temari turned around to face her brother.

"Izumo-kun and Kotestu-kun had to drag your sorry, wasted ass back here. Do you know how disgraceful it is for a _kage_ to be drunk in another village? You're the _Kazekage,_ Gaara, I thought you understood that. When we get back Baki's going to write a report on you," she chided harshly. When Temari scolded people she didn't use loud tones; instead she employed the use of soft, hateful words that pierced the victim's heart and never failed to make him feel like absolute crap.

Gaara very nearly snorted. _Write a report on him_. What was he, five years old? Nevertheless, as of then his sister was his only source of information, and as it was she was already quite angry with him. "Did I commit any crimes?" he questioned, and the Kazekage knew very certainly he could not have done such things… but it was good to ask.

Temari raised a skeptical eyebrow, and said with her eyes narrowed, "none that I know of… yet." She shook her head in sharp disapproval and rolled her eyes. The kunoichi was about to get a glass of water from the bathroom before she heard knocking. For a moment her face lit up with slight surprise, but then it was replaced with more scorn as she marched over to the door, ready to vent her anger at the poor sap who dared to knock.

"I might not have given you a deadline," she started softly, her momentum and volume increasing as she cracked the door open, "but that doesn't mean you can gallivant all over Konoha for an hour while Gaara and I are –"

Temari stopped.

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish would in water, and she was caught utterly off-guard by the surprise guest.

"Hello," Hinata greeted softly, a little unnerved and disturbed at how her new sister-in-law had opened the door to her. The white-eyed female examined Temari's shocked expression. "May I come in?" she asked pleasantly.

"Of-of course, Hinata," she forced out in a mumble, turning sideways stiffly to allow the girl entry. Hinata smiled and nodded, before entering and taking her shoes off. She walked into the heart of the living room, and stood by the coffee table as Temari closed the door shut. Gaara sat very still, his line of vision blocked by the big rectangular sliding door.

"I'm here to see Gaara-kun, Temari-san," Hinata stated gently, and Temari pointed in her brother's direction. The Hyuuga nodded once again and shuffled over to the open room, but her pace slowed down halfway, as if she suddenly changed her mind. Gaara heard footsteps, but the dull ache in his head kept him from investigating.

"Hello, Gaara-kun," Hinata greeted her husband, and as he took her image in the Kazekage stopped breathing for a moment.

"Hello," Gaara answered, and he invited her to sit next to him. What followed was an awkward silence, but Temari was unable to remedy the situation as she felt the couple needed some _privacy_ and hence decided to stay out of their affairs. That's right – she closed the sliding doors and camped in the living room ready to slaughter her other brother once she saw him.

"Gaara-kun," Hinata started, scolding herself internally for being such a coward when all she needed to lose was her shyness. "I'd like to think that… that we'd have a chance at making this work."

The Kazekage stared blankly at her, very surprised at her sudden boldness. When he first saw her she exuded… well, she didn't really exude _anything_ – she seemed to have almost no presence whatsoever.

Hinata took his silence as permission to continue, and continue she did, "I'm not –"

"I'm sorry," Gaara interrupted, and his eyes moved from her glorious untainted face to the floor. "I'm socially inept, and I can't pick up on social clues as normal people can. I didn't think those stupid elders would make this whole marriage thing go so fast… I'm awkward and unprepared for these duties as a husband…"

His wife could feel heat searing across her face. "That-that's not true!" she blurted out despite herself, "I always thought Gaara-kun was amazing to become Kazekage. I always thought Gaara-kun was amazing to lead the Shinobi army." Hinata felt her fingers wrap around each other.

Gaara flashed a weak smile at the fragile female. "You believed in me," he said, oblivious of his hands moving across his futon and inching toward Hinata's… subconsciously he wondered if her fingertips were as delicate as they looked, if her palms were as smooth as they seemed, if her skin was as flawless as a pearls'… "Thank you."

"Usually people believe in themselves before others believe in them," Hinata answered, her previously flustered expression softening. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Gaara's hand near her lap, where her own hands were twiddling her fingers together. The ex-heiress wondered if his fingers were _really_ that slender, if his palm felt rough like her father's…

"Usually?" Gaara echoed, his sharpness in detecting insecurity showing.

Hinata nodded, but she didn't feel like elaborating. "Usually."

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow, but he didn't question his wife. Silently he vowed to always believe in the woman in front of him – the emotional scars she seemed to be able to hide from others only glowed more prominently as she evaded the subject.

"You know what," Gaara said, and Hinata's eyes snapped up from the floor to his face. She looked at him, curious as to what her husband was about to say next. "I think this marriage will work out after all."

The ex-Hyuuga felt a small smile settle on her lips.

Temari had to resist the urge to glue her ear to the thin paper walls of the sliding door, because a) the paper would reveal her silhouette, b) if she were to get caught, she could potentially increase the awkward level, and c) they sounded as if they were talking anyway, and she didn't want to ruin that with her nosiness. So she waited for her lunch to arrive while her stomach showed her no mercy. She wondered if the pair in the room could hear her.

Dismissing that crude thought, the wind user almost jumped as she heard knocking sounds once again. Oh, the horrors she would induce in her little brother… This time she swung the door open with huge anticipation, ready to snatch the lunch boxes out of Kankuro's hand and throw him out of the window naked as soon as he stepped into the room.

Still, the Sunagakure kunoichi paused once she saw the person knocking. It was _him_.

"Hello," Shikamaru mumbled gruffly, nodding his head as a small greeting. "I'd like very much to talk to you."


	15. Chapter 14

A/N: There are a few things I'd like to say.

First, I'm still a noob when it comes to , and to that extent I'd like to establish the fact that I have absolutely no idea of how to reply, thus my replies via chapters. If you know how to reply to a review, please tell me. Your help is much appreciated (:

Secondly, my reply to Refugio:

I've read that story before! And enjoyed it somewhat. I can assure you I never really got to read the middle chapters - it was too long for my liking and after a while my interest waned. Hence I can't tell you if I "stole it away", because I didn't finish it. But if it really concerns you and chews your soul away, then you could write to Danyel and ask him/her.

~X~

Omiai Chapter 14; _3 days to wedding_

Temari waited, her eyes blank orbs as they seemed to stare right past the man in front of her. A minute passed. Two minutes went by.

"Lunch," she finally mumbled, still relatively shocked. "We need lunch," she forced out, though she felt all her hunger disappear. "I have to get lunch."

Obviously puzzled, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Lunch?" he echoed, then sighed irritably. "Look," he answered, misinterpreting her statements, "I understand if you want to change the subject and make me disappear, but please don't run away from this. I may be lazy but I assure you I won't relent... At least not yet."

Temari put her shoes on, and started walking out the door. Her face was contorted with a deep frown. Shikamaru blinked, and after she walked past him the Konohagakure shinobi followed suit. "Temari, stop -"

"_Shikamaru_," she interrupted, her tone soft. The wind user did indeed stop walking, and the ninja behind her paused as well. He tilted his head upwards by a fraction. The Sunagakure kunoichi sighed, slowly turning around to face him. "Let's get lunch."

_Over at the Boys..._

"I don't know what to say."

Heads turned to Shino, and the Aburame sighed wearily. It was true; he did not know what to say, but felt the tense silence quite unbearable. "This is so sudden."

"You accepted it, didn't you, Sasuke?" Kiba growled, his voice low and taut. His arm muscles contracted, and he felt anger rising in the pit of his stomach. "You're disgusting."

Said Uchiha threw an irritated look at the Inuzuka, but that was all it was - annoyed. "I'm not going to explain myself, " Sasuke stated, crossing his arms. "I have no reason to."

Kiba twitched, and he let everything loose. "The hell you don't!" he yelled, jumping up from his position and rather ready to lunge at his comrade. Akamaru whimpered as he saw his master lose it. "How _dare_ you go and accept it! After your experiences with your own clan you might have thought this wouldn't have worked! You should know that it'd result in more hatred! And that maybe we'll have to fight _another_ war!"

"Kiba-kun," Lee murmured, frowning. "Please calm down. I understand you've been highly affected by Hinata-san's engagement to Gaara-kun, but -"

"Engagement?" Kiba echoed, his anger reaching its peak, "The hell it's a fucking _engagement_! She's been goddamn _married_ to that fucking murderer!"

Naruto shot him a disapproving glance. "Gaara isn't a murderer," the blond politically corrected, "he's the Kazekage. Bushy Eyebrows is right; you have to calm down."

"Oh so _now_ you're defending him? And that bastard next to you as well?" Kiba raged, pointing an accusing finger toward the potential Hokage. He stepped closer to Sasuke, and the latter stood up.

"Are you challenging me, dog boy?" Sasuke incited, his eyes slowly changing to his Sharingan. His fists were clenched, his arms tensed, and his face was marred with a deep scowl. "Do you _want_ to die? I've killed Danzo and I can kill you before you even think of another insult."

"Hey, hey!" Chouji interjected, appalled at the sudden adverse turn of events. "_Everybody_ needs to calm down." The peace-loving Akimichi also stood up, standing in between Sasuke and Kiba. He stretched his arms, palms facing the both of them.

"Screw this," the Inuzuka boy spat, and he turned around for the door. Shino followed suit, his cool and collected personality seemingly unaffected by the verbal fight. "I'm going."

As the door slammed shut, Sasuke's own fury poured out of him. "Did you see that?" he spluttered, too incensed to think, "how _dare_ he mention the Uchiha. How _dare_ he mention the war. He _knows_ it's a black mark that's going to stay on my name forever..."

Naruto looked away, resigned. If this was the way his friends were acting... As much as he wanted to lighten the atmosphere, the constant outbursts of those who had been outraged by the rushed marriage bogged him down. He wondered what Jiraiya would have done...

"You were both being unreasonable little nitwits," a soft, placating voice offered, and Naruto realised it was Sai. The exceptionally pale ninja had his smile plastered on his face, as if he found the whole affair quite amusing. "Sasuke, you weren't thinking of the potential consequences when you accepted the mission. And Kiba was just mouthing off because he's gay."

Chouji's eyebrows lifted at Sai's explanation of Kiba's behaviour, to which the ex-Root member chuckled. "I'm just joking," Sai assured, and at his friends' disgusted glowers he blinked, innocuous. "What, isn't trying to lift the tense atmosphere what friends are supposed to do?"

"On the contrary," Sasuke answered heatedly, rolling his onyx eyes. "I knew this would happen," he proclaimed in an extremely pompous manner. Next to him on the floor Naruto shook his head slowly.

Lee gasped. "Then please share your reasoning with us, Sasuke-kun." His expression hardened, and his eyes no longer seemed to be glazed over by the '_Spirit of Youth_'...

"Because," Sasuke replied, sighing wearily. His own pretty eyes closed, and he sat down next to his blond comrade, whose facial features seemed more distorted than ever. "It's easier to hate a traitor, than it is to hate your own kinsman."

_Over in the Hyuuga Compound..._

Hiashi took his time as he sipped his tea, savoring the taste before swallowing the warm liquid. Before him his youngest daughter was sparring with Ko, who had retired as Hinata's caretaker after the war. The Head of the Hyuuga lidded his pale pupil-less eyes, feeling rather tired.

"That's quite enough, Hanabi," Hiashi said, and the pair stopped moving. His daughter abandoned her battle stance and stared at her parent, confused. Ko had the same expression on his face, only on his it was also tinted with worry.

"Did I do something wrong?" Hanabi questioned, a little annoyed that her father would halt one of her matches. She stood still, and ramrod straight as her Byakugan relented.

"No," Hiashi ascertained, and with a curt nod of his head Ko was dismissed. He turned to his daughter after he took his leave. "I just thought it would be best if you and I spent some time together. I wish to talk to you regarding your future."

Hanabi almost paled. "Future?" she echoed, doubt apparent in her tone. She wasn't very sure she wanted to know about her future... Especially since the last time Hiashi had spent some '_alone time_" with her sister Hinata ended up married to a stranger.

"Come," Hiashi gestured to the gardens, and she followed her father as he led the way. The tea was left on the tray on the floor, and Hanabi couldn't help but feel déjà vu as she entered her family's Japanese garden, a familiar chill running down her spine.


	16. Chapter 15

Omiai - Chapter 15

_Meanwhile, at Ten-Ten's..._

"Ten-Ten," Neji greeted, as the door was pulled open. But what he first saw wasn't the girl in question; it was that loudmouth girl #1 and the other loudmouth girl. Subconsciously, the Hyuuga man cringed.

"Hi, Neji-san!" Ino said, cheery. Beside her, Sakura had a small smile on her face. "Ten-Ten is showering now. We're waiting in the living room, would you like to wait with us?"

Neji glanced behind the two kunoichi, catching a glimpse of the hallway that led to the bedrooms, to the adjoining bathrooms, to _her_. Still, all it lasted was a few brief seconds, before he tore his white eyes away. He heard himself sigh.

"Neji-san?" Ino prompted, expectant. She just _loved_ meddling with other people's love lives and playing matchmaker, plus by her 99%-accurate intuition Neji and Ten-Ten had had a lot of potential. "Would you like to join us?"

"No, thank you," Neji declined politely, shaking his head slowly and forcing a weak smile. Of course, he just couldn't spare the time; he had better things to do. Neji _always_ had better things to do. "I just came by to tell Ten-Ten to see Tsunade-sama once she's done."

Ino was too slow to mask her crestfallen expression, and after Neji blinked she forced out a small, "oh". The blond kunoichi smiled at her comrade nonetheless, and once she assured Neji she and Sakura would tell Ten-Ten, the Hyuuga thanked her as he took his leave. "Immediately," he emphasized, "she's waiting for her right now."

As the door closed Ino scowled. "What's his problem?" she crowed, extremely displeased with his attitude. "I mean, it's kind of obvious that they like each other, plus they've got huge carloads of potential chemistry... What's the holdup?" With her arms crossed and her brows furrowed, Ino fell onto the couch.

"Leave them alone, Ino," Sakura cautioned, rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't mess with the Hyuuga." Smiling to herself, Sakura copied her friend.

"And why not?" Ino challenged. "I'm just _helping_ them. Can't you sense the tension, Sakura?" The Yamanaka threw her childhood companion an exasperated glance. "They're _leaking_ it from the pores on their bodies!"

Sakura raised a pink eyebrow, "Tension?" she echoed, skepticism blatant in her tone. "What kind of tension?"

"Sexual tension," Ino answered with an eye roll. "My god, you want to be with Sasuke-kun and you don't know what tension is leaking out?"

"You've just been spending too much time with Sai," Sakura muttered, annoyed at her friend's mention of the Uchiha. It was strange to her; even then Ino seemed to have forgotten all about Sasuke, and if that didn't bother her, the fact that her friend had been going out with Sai and tried to keep it a secret certainly pulled at her suspicions.

Ino, however, heard that, and instantly sat up straight as she looked excitedly at her comrade. "You've noticed?" she gushed, a light tint of pink settling on her face. "Did you know, last night Sai asked to meet my parents!"

Sakura felt her eyes bulge in their sockets. "You guys are _that_ far on already? All of us knew... But not that it was be that fast..."

"You all knew?" Ino rephrased, her voice going deeper as it adopted a sordid tone. "You _all_ knew?"

"Open secret," Sakura shrugged, leaning backwards as she sighed, relaxed. At the back of her mind she heard the soft sound of the door being clicked open.

Ino howled, part angry yet part amused. She raised her voice as she almost screamed, "why didn't you _tell_ me you knew? My God, Sai and I were –"

"What's going on?" a harsh, tired voice interrupted the start of Ino's rant, and the pair turned to the source; Ten-Ten, clad in a green blouse and loose fitting trousers. It was her day off from missions, and if anything she had successfully convinced herself that going out with her two friends would do her good.

Sakura forgot her friend's impatience and grinned. "Neji-san came over," she related, failing to see the shock on Ten-Ten's face. Tsunade's apprentice was about to finish but the weapons master cut her off.

"When?" she asked, and it came out strained.

The medic blinked, recognizing the terse tone. "About 5 minutes ago," Sakura answered, and before she could react Ten-Ten rushed through the door. Her fringe swayed with the sudden movement and in a split second she was gone; in her hurry she even left the door open.

There was silence as the two kunoichi stared at the open entrance, taken aback by their comrade's rather spontaneous reaction. Ino was the first to break away from her surprise and move, shifting her position on the couch. "See," she said, pride evident in her tone as a know-it-all smirk settled on her face, "I told you so."

_At the Hyuuga Compound..._

Shock.

That was what slapped Hanabi across the face as the words left her father's lips and registered in her memory. The initially strong kunoichi wavered as the news hit her, sending her knees shaking. Her proud white eyes narrowed with the furrowing of her brow, her voice instantly hoarse and choked up.

"No..." she muttered, feeling her nose getting runny. She felt phlegm at the back of her throat, but when she tried to swallow it, it wouldn't move. "No, you can't do this..."

Dust and dirt flew into the air when Hanabi collapsed onto the ground, her little mouth quivering. Her eyes went wide as her parent stared straight at her, towering over her while her facial muscles started to twitch. "Father, I can't even begin to..."

Hiashi merely looked at his kin with a relatively guilty expression, one marred with resignation. He tucked his arms inside his kimono and started walking away, turning his back on his daughter. What he whispered next was almost inaudible, and it was only due to the absence of the wind plus the absolute stillness of the garden that allowed Hanabi to hear it.

"I'm sorry," she heard, and as she wondered if she had only imagined it Hanabi could not sense her dams crumbling.

_Over at the Sand Lodge…_

Gaara's eyes went over his wife's form, roaming over her figure. The Kazekage inched his hands closer and closer to those of Hinatas', and noticed her shifting her weight. His movements stopped, and he cleared his throat, making Hinata's head snap up to attention. "You were wrong, by the way," he said, breaking the thin silence.

His new spouse blinked, clueless at his sudden sentence. "Excuse me?" she managed, her stutter almost – _almost_ – not interfering. Her voice still had that soft pitch in it, and she couldn't help but feel the need to scream. Since about 7 minutes ago a nagging sense of urgency had started to plague Hinata, and as it gnawed away at her mind she couldn't shake it off. _Something was wrong_… Hinata felt her eyebrows twitch.

"My mother _did_ love me," Gaara smiled a small smile while he tried to shrug off that sense of pride whenever he mentioned his mother. "I _was_ filled with love before I became a Jinchuuriki, but I never felt that love because of false words... Perhaps that was why I was able to change."

Hinata's expression softened and the tips of her mouth rose by a centimeter. "There can't be anyone who hasn't felt love at least once in their lives; if that's so then they haven't been living." A shadow of distraction passed over her delicate features, and the Kazekage was able to pick it up.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, the dull ache at the back of his head subsiding as the perfect picture of Hinata's warm smile was imbued into his memory. Still, he saw the furtive tint of doubt and curiosity took it from there.

"N-no," the white-eyed girl answered, nervous. She scolded herself for allowing that malicious stutter to invade her speech once again, and quickly averted her gaze to something less... Intrusive; the eyes of the Kazekage seemed to have the ability to stare straight into a person's soul, and the dark rings around his eyes only accentuated the eeriness.

"The wedding's in 3 days, 2 if you don't count the day itself." The sound of her name from his lips made her shiver, the velvet in his voice made her face flush, and the deep tone made her ears go red. The ex-Hyuuga bit her lower lip unconsciously. _Was she developing a crush on her husband?_ "I'm already your husband," the kage continued, "you have to tell me about your problems."

"It's just a feeling," she assured, her blush deepening. If anything, that chronic habit of hers to flare up whenever confronted with a problem was positively maddening, and despite the fact that the feeling was still chewing away at her, she still felt a little uncomfortable in his presence. "I just have some feeling that something bad is going to happen." Hinata chuckled, thinking she sounded crazy.

Gaara stiffened sharply, and he looked away instantly. _Did she know?_ He cleared his throat, and after a while managed to face her again. "You're right," he answered, "it's probably nothing." Those dismissive words made Gaara regret even uttering them, and a pang of guilt slapped him across the face.

Hinata nodded as she agreed, but that annoying sense of foreboding simply _wouldn't_ go away. "Yeah," she muttered, "nothing." The Hyuuga was able to tear her eyes away from the floor and finally face her husband in the eye, but what she saw wasn't what she had expected.

Gaara's facial muscles were twitching, and suddenly his eyes were glistening, covered by a thin sliver of moisture. As he opened his mouth to speak his lips trembled with sweet betrayal, those of a pure sinner. His voice broke, "I'm sorry." The Kazekage took his wife's warm delicate hands in his, "I'm so, so sorry."


	17. Chapter 16

Omiai Chapter 16

_Painful_ – oh, it was excruciatingly so. Kiba lunged forward, his hands clenched in tight fists as his legs contracted. A low, menacing growl escaped his lips and while he ran forward the trees next to his path fell.

"Kiba."

He slowed for a bit, and eventually came to a stop. His body turned to look at the source of that cautious voice, his face contorted to one of an indescribable plethora of emotions. Clearly, however, Kiba was supremely upset.

Shino's own steely gaze managed to level his teammate, his eyebrows lowering while his dark goggles seemed to resemble a dark abyss. At his friend's glower Shino sighed. "You've got to calm down, Kiba."

"Calm down?" Kiba echoed, incredulity more than evident in his tone. He struggled to maintain his temper, mindful of his audience. At the back of his mind he knew... He knew whatever he would do wouldn't change anything. Still, that didn't mean he wouldn't hope, or that he wouldn't try. "You don't fucking _tell_ me to calm down! You should be _just_ as pissed off as I am! I mean, without warning she's –"

"We knew," the bug boy interrupted once again, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Shino shifted his body so Kiba got a side profile, a pose the Aburame so often struck. The trees surrounding them blew with the sudden gust of wind, their hair going along without much resistance. "We knew this would happen one day, sooner or later."

"_Later_," Kiba answered, his eyes looking away from his teammate and his fists slowly unclenching. His tone was gentler, but it still had that small bite. "I thought it'd be later. You also have to admit; you never thought she'd leave us _this_ early. I thought it'd be another four years at least..."

"But it's been decided _now_," Shino said with a strange firmness in his voice. "You can't do anything already, Kiba. She has agreed."

Kiba sighed, shaking his head at the inevitable. Hinata would be taken away from Konoha by that monster of a man, whisked away into a land where he would not be able to give her water whenever she felt faint, or provide backup as she utilized her Byakugan... No, she would go and she would be gone forever.

Shino's next statement punched the Inuzuka in the stomach. "You were just too much of a coward to confess to her," he added, and Kiba frowned.

"And you, Shino?" Kiba asked, sordid. "You're totally okay with this? You and I both know - "

"I told her," he interjected, grave and solemn. Then the Aburame seemed to suffer no pain at all as he said those words, and Kiba subconsciously wondered if his friend had a heart. How could he feel _all those_ emotions back then, and now… Look as if he felt nothing?

"And?" Kiba urged, more curious than angry. His eyes had lost their savage wildness, his brow no longer that distorted.

"I was too late," Shino assured grimly. He turned his whole body, his back to his comrade. The bug boy tilted his head upward, looking to the sky. The dog boy could almost swear he heard hurt in his friend's suddenly forlorn voice. "I was way too late, Kiba," Shino sighed, "she'd already said yes."

_Over at the BBQ restaurant..._

Temari scowled, her arms crossed as she entered the establishment with Shikamaru leading. "I said we have to _get_ lunch. Gaara and Hinata are probably starving back at the lodge…" She surveyed the relatively empty restaurant, her eyes narrowing as she did so.

"The Kazekage has his wife to take care of him," Shikamaru replied, moving to a table for two and gesturing for Temari to join him. She hesitated and remained by the entrance, making the genius let out an irritated sigh. "You're going to have to leave them alone you know. Besides, it's already a little past lunch time so Hinata would've eaten something. If the Kazekage's hungry they can _both_ go out together and have a nice time." He paused, and hurriedly added, "No pun intended."

"My brother's socially awkward, if you haven't realised," Temari frowned, yet she conceded and sat opposite the man. She felt her stomach protest at the lack of food, but suddenly she didn't feel that hungry. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and ordered several plates of meat and two bowls of rice. The waitress came by a few minutes later and prepared the charcoal grill, before placing two slices of beef onto it, bowing and then disappearing into the kitchen.

"This is hard for me, Temari," he started, noticing the silence apart from the sizzling succulent slices of meat on the grill. Temari wasn't looking at the meat, however. She was staring straight at Shikamaru, her eyes teal orbs as they honed in on the shinobi. "I'm not the friendliest person out there either."

He was about to continue but she cut him off, her tone weary and defeated. "Shikamaru, you're a lazy bum who would rather stare at the clouds everyday than go on missions. You're unrefined, you're a crybaby, you love to complain, and if you weren't persuaded into the Jounin exams by that godson of yours you wouldn't have been promoted." She pointed her forefinger to the stunned individual opposite her, whose eyes grew wide and whose mouth opened a little in astonishment. "You're everything _any_ woman wouldn't want for a boyfriend, much less a husband."

Shikamaru blinked, his mind and soul still absorbing the shock. He swallowed a few times, his throat getting drier every instance he did so. As his brain processed that information his reaction was totally unlike that of his normal personality – Shikamaru's genius brain was unable to think of any witty or suave remark, so all he managed to force out of his flabbergasted voice box was a strangled, "Ah… I…"

The kunoichi of Sunagakure scowled once again, this time picking her disposable chopsticks up and clicking them at his face. "Still, I'm not just _any_ woman," she started, a light shade of pale pink settling on her cheeks. Her brows furrowed as she continued. "I'm the Kazekage's sister. And even though I don't think this relationship of ours will last any longer than a week, I'm willing to give it a try." She might as well have screamed out in relief, for once those words escaped her lips Temari felt as if the sky had been lifted off her tired shoulders.

Shikamaru's expression experienced many changes that day, from embarrassed to dumbfounded to crestfallen, and finally he felt a small smile creep up his face. He didn't even attempt to conceal it – he hated the way he smiled; Shikamaru thought he looked even more dumb – and when the new couple stared at each other straight in the eye for a few seconds his romantic interest threw him an annoyed look.

"What?" Temari snapped, retaining her tough girl exterior despite the melting sensation she was feeling in her chest.

"Temari," Shikamaru grinned, his finger pointing to the charcoal grill. Small plumes of thick black smoke exuded from the fuel beneath the metal wires. "The meat is burning."

_Over in the streets of Konoha..._

She ran, ran like the wind, ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The muscles contracted relentlessly as she pushed forward, disregarding the usual throngs of people walking through the relatively narrow streets, ignoring the sweat on her body and the constant resistance. After a few moments of running she finally caught a glimpse of his back.

It was unmistakably _him_; that black sling bag was draped around his left shoulder, his long dark brown hair reached past her line of vision, and the fact that his pace steady even among the crowd only accentuated his identity. She rushed forward, pushing and shoving those in her way with barely a mutter of apology. She received more than a little dirty looks, but she didn't care.

"Neji!" she called out, her voice only a few decibels louder than the din of the walking herd of humans. She was desperate – desperate for him to turn around, desperate for him to talk to her again effectively.

He seemed to be able to hear her, and once he turned around to find the source of the voice his expression hardened. Neji stepped out of the crowd and next to a stall selling takoyaki. He waited till Ten-Ten was able to manoeuvre her way to him.

"Didn't Sakura and Ino tell you to see Tsunade-sama? She's been waiting ever since I left and she's not the type who likes to be kept waiting," the Hyuuga chided irately. Right off the bat he was unwelcoming and cold, making Ten-Ten frown.

"_Nobody_ likes to be kept waiting, you idiot!" she yelled, and it was only the noise of the crowds that prevented anyone from redirecting their attention to the two. "I've waited, Neji," Ten-Ten started, her own tone deep and full of caution. "I've been waiting since God knows when. You said you loved me, Neji, and if this is love then I was a fool for agreeing to this!"

Neji stood still, quiet. It was the first time his female teammate – or any teammate for that matter – had called him a derogatory name, and for some reason he wasn't sure if it was also the last. His nod and subsequent silence allowed Ten-Ten to continue, and continue she did.

"What's your problem?" she raged, her anger reaching a peak. "Ever since this whole stupid wedding thing started you've been acting strange. Is it because you're scared of letting Hinata go? If that's true then I'm fine with it; I know you're her protector and everything plus even though it makes me feel like you have some twisted cousin-complex, I'm cool with it. But you _have_ to tell me, Neji, I have a damn right to know."

Her breaths came out quick and short as she ranted, when she stopped Ten-Ten crossed her arms. The kunoichi glared at her secret lover, her eyes burning with suppressed fury.

"Ten-Ten," Neji said gently, his hands moving to clasp hers. His eyebrows relaxed and so did his expression. The Hyuuga sighed before leaning in to kiss Ten-Ten's tender lips.

A burst of emotions flooded the girl, and even though he tore away after a bride two seconds the feelings stuck in her soul. Her reverie was tragically broken, however, with what her surreptitious boyfriend said next.

"This wasn't a good idea after all. I'm afraid this will have to end, Ten-Ten."

Two sentences were all it took to make Ten-Ten stop breathing. After a minute she inhaled deeply, but as she exhaled her breaths were short. "I-I'm sorry?" she cracked a weak smile, thinking it was a joke. _Oh, please be a joke..._

"I said," Neji repeated, his previously soft exterior an emotionless mask. "I'm ending this. This whole secret love affair. It was fun while it lasted but Hinata-sama's marriage got me thinking. I realised this hasn't been what I thought it was." His gaze was on the girl's face, a myriad of negative emotions.

"You said you loved me," Ten-Ten protested softly, as if it would have made a difference.

"I did," Neji nodded, "But I've come to find out that what I harboured for you was merely an infatuation. I've gotten over it, Ten-Ten. You should too."

At her speechlessness Neji pinched his nose bridge with his thumb and forefinger. He closed his eyes as a long, exasperated sigh escaped his lips. "Look, I didn't want you to find out this way. I was going to tell you after the wedding..."

"You... The wedding... You've been promised to someone?" doubt was evident, as Ten-Ten tried to make sense of her situation. Yet nothing made any sense to her anymore; were all those instances of love and affection a façade?

"I..." Neji trailed off, not really knowing how to answer. "No. But I've got far more important things to do. I'm sorry Ten-Ten, but you've got to see Tsunade-sama now. If not she'll throw something out the window and I'll get hell from Kotetsu, Izumo, Shizuna or all three."

With that Neji turned Ten-Ten's stiff body around and pushed her back into the moving crowd, all before she could react. While her legs moved mechanically to the Hokage Tower, the weapons master glanced back with dry eyes, and the next thing she saw made her brown orbs moist.

_Please,_ Neji seemed to mouth to her as his head stuck out from the crowd. _Forgive me._


	18. Chapter 17

Omiai Chapter 17

She drew short breaths as the wooden kago shook with every movement. Slow, mostly unsteady yet lacquered to perfection, the palanquin swayed as the bearers walked forward. When the kago slowed to a halt she froze, no longer picking at the silk curtains that blocked her view of her surroundings. _This is a rehearsal._, she told herself assuringly. _This is _just _a rehearsal_.

Her eyes darted from side to side, her body suddenly finding the stale air in the palanquin unbearable. She felt the vessel lower till it touched the ground, and when nothing else happened she cleared her throat. "Are we there already?" she asked, keeping her tone level and calm. It could not have been farther from the truth.

"Yes," came the gruff reply. "We are here, Hinata-sama." With protocol completed he lifted the curtain entrance, revealing his employer to be sitting with her knees bent.

Hinata only nodded; they weren't _really_ there yet, she knew. She and Gaara would have to enter the shrine together, and it was only on the way to their meeting place did she manage to get some alone time. She emerged out of the palanquin with the grace and pride worthy of a noble, her long midnight tresses flying slightly with the movement. Once safely out Hinata nodded again, expressing her thanks for the journey. The bearers bowed in return, and subsequently carried the kago back, a little happier than when they left.

She closed her eyes and shuffled toward the pink umbrella sticking out from the ground, mindful of the fact that on the day itself she'd be wrapped in a restrictive uchikake. Hinata's mind wandered at the thought; the uchikake and the shiromuku she'd be wearing was her mother's, as was the tsunokakushi. The whole process of putting it on would take more than 3 hours, so she would have to be up by 5 in the morning if she wanted the Shinto ceremony to start by 9.

Hinata had seen the garments before; the shiromuku and the silk tsunokakushi were, of course, pure snow white while the uchikake was a deep imperial purple in colour. The cranes, flowers and pines were a rich gold, and they stood out nicely. If anything, the only aspect of dressing up that she detested was the fitting of that blasted katsura – it was heavy and annoying, plus she didn't like the way it shifted when she moved her head.

"Hinata-sama."

His deep voice broke her train of thought, and as her eyes snapped open Hinata realised she'd walked right past the meeting point. Flushed, she hurried back to the shelter of the umbrella. She greeted him politely, and the pair started to walk toward the entrance of the shrine.

"You shouldn't run," he chided, carrying the broad red umbrella. "It makes you seem unladylike and the uchikake will get dirty if you sashay around carelessly."

"I'm sorry. It just seems so soon... I'm just a little flustered," the words came out as a mere stutter, but he was so used to her speech that he was able to understand. He grunted in reply, his steps accommodating her relatively slow pace as they got closer to the majestic red wooden structures that signaled the entrance to the shrine.

"On the day itself Hanabi-sama, Hiashi-sama, our grandfather and I will be escorting you. Hanabi-sama will help hold your uchikake up as you walk," he informed, telling his cousin information she already knew.

Hinata nodded, signaling her acknowledgement. The fact that she was getting _married_ in two days... The thought simply blew her mind.

"Hinata-sama," he started, breaking the thin sliver of silence. They were walking up the stairs, halfway there. "If he does _anything_ that's detrimental to you or your health..."

"Relax, please," Hinata countered, her eyes instantly wide with surprise. "Gaara-kun isn't so bad... We've come to terms with this marriage and we're going to work this out together, for the sake of our villages."

"If that idiot hadn't rejected you, you wouldn't have agreed to this sham of a marriage..."

The painful reminder of her failed confession induced a strangled, embarrassed silence in the younger Hyuuga, who bit her lower lip. She hadn't allowed herself to think of her decision in that light. _He's right, you know_, the little voice of doubt and suspicion creeping into her ear and inciting wild emotions. _If Naruto hadn't said no... If he had said yes... If he didn't only have eyes for that ugly, crude wretch with pink hair..._

"Please, Nii-san," she answered softly, her tone bordering on begging. "Don't mention Naruto-kun. He didn't influence my decision." _She lied_.

Neji stopped walking; they were at the door of the shrine. "Hinata-sama, you're making a big mistake," his voice was grim and grave, as if he foresaw a terrible future in store for his cousin. "These eyes have shown me... You have a choice. Please don't do this."

"Nii-san," Hinata replied, exasperated. "I've been making mistakes all my life, and from my point of view this is the only thing I can do right, as of now. You think I haven't talked to Father? I've come to a decision, and whether it's been influenced by Naruto-kun, or Father, or my past failures or even _you_, it doesn't matter. I've made my choice. It is my duty to the village, my friends and my family to see this through."

Neji threw the red umbrella onto the stone floor, tearing the fragile paper material. The sound of paper being ripped apart made Hinata cringe, and unconsciously she took a few steps back. "Duty?" he echoed, impatience and fury rising in his chest. "You're making a huge mistake, Hinata-sama. I'd just like you to know that your decisions affect everyone else's around you."

Having voiced his opinions he turned around and stalked off, leaving his confused cousin at the entrance to the shrine. Neji exhaled numerous times as he walked away, his shoulders rising and falling unsteadily as he slowed and finally collapsed onto the forest floor not far from the shrine, his all-seeing eyes drowning in a sea of senseless responsibilities.

_Meanwhile, at the Lodge..._

"I'm home," the cheery voice reverberated throughout the living room of the lodge, and Gaara heard his brother take his shoes off at the door. The Kazekage greeted his sibling, and his tone must have been excessively happy, because said brother popped his head around the doorway leading to the room. "Are you alright?"

"She came to visit," Gaara started, feeling his lips curve. "And she gave me this." Between his forefinger and his thumb he held a tension ring; the band was a smooth white jade and a substantially large piece of red diamond stood proudly in the centre of the circular ring. Yet the size of the coveted gem didn't make the bodily ornament look gaudy at all. In fact it gave it a bit of class, of grace. "She said it was her mother's."

"Gaara," Kankuro grinned as he hurried to his brother's side and sat down next to him. "You _do_ know that that's a girl's ring, right?"

The kage frowned, annoyed at where his brother decided to place importance. "I don't care," Gaara answered. "Hinata gave it to me, so I don't care." At this Kankuro rolled his eyes playfully. _Ah, the foolishness of affection_.

"Stop rolling your eyes," Gaara chided, irritated. "One day they're going to fall out and I'm not going to look for them even if you go onto your knees and beg." He stopped rolling the ring around his palm, closing it. "Anyway I need your help again."

"No," Kankuro shook his head, his arms crossed. "I'm not going to help you look for sparkly earrings to match your ring."

Gaara blinked, not getting the joke. Then he dismissed it as another one of his brother's crude insignificant comments and continued. "I want to find a ring to give Hinata."

Kankuro stared at his sibling for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "If I remember correctly Temari brought mom's ring too," he said as he stood up. The puppeteer rushed over to his sister's luggage, and began digging through the items.

Eventually he pulled out a small lacquered red coloured ring box, buried at the very depths of Temari's bag. Kankuro ambled his way back to his brother, maneuvering through the various piles of things he had thrown out of his sister's bag.

Once he sat back down next to Gaara he cracked the box open, revealing the intricately embroidered crane-and-dragon silk lining inside. A proud solitaire ring lay in the middle of the box, the band made of serendibite and the gem a sparkling bright red diamond. "Temari wanted this but mom said the first one of us to get married would've gotten this, so... It's yours now," Kankuro grinned, snapping the box shut and placing it into his boss's hands.

"Speaking of which," Kankuro continued, getting up and walking toward the living room. "Where's Temari? I've gotten her lunch. And yours too, if you're feeling hungry."

"She went out after Hinata came over. When that man came over as well. What's his name... It starts with an S..."

"Shikamaru?" Kankuro reminded, taking a packet of rice to the bedroom. Gaara nodded his thanks, and set the ring box onto the small table next to his futon. "Oh, where's Hinata?" Kankuro prodded. "Did she get stolen by Shikamaru as well?" he jibed, his eyebrows jumping up and down.

"No," the Kazekage answered matter-of-factly, accepting a spoon proffered by his sibling. "Her cousin came over to pick her up for a rehearsal. He told me to stay and rest."

"I see," Kankuro sighed, his gaze drifting. He placed his cheek on his palm, his eyelids closing slightly. A familial silence settled between the hungry Kazekage and his quiet brother, which the latter subsequently broke with a seemingly innocent "_I wonder how Matsuri's doing_."

He almost choked on his rice, unpleasant flashbacks racing through his brain. The Kazekage calmed himself and exhaled deeply. "I'm sure she's fine," he whispered. The image of her tears flowing down her hot cheeks stuck in his head, her shoulders rising and falling unsteadily as she wiped her eyes continuously, never able to stem the flow of the liquid.

"Yeah," Kankuro nodded, turning away from his brother. "She's just a kid, after all."

"Yes." The kage stared at his late lunch, served so tardy it might as well have been an early dinner. "You're right."

Kankuro watched as the glorious orange sun began its descent into the foot of the mountains, dyeing the colours of the sky a spectrum of magnificent colours. "You know I hate kids, right?" he questioned, his mind no longer with his brother.

The Kazekage placed his meal onto the table. "Oh," Gaara sighed, no longer hungry. He buried his fingers into the depths of his futon, trying to forget that tingling sensation in his fingers as blurred images of that student back home flooded his mind. The bright red box of happiness sat innocuously across him. "I know."


	19. Chapter 18

Omiai Chapter 18

It happened so quickly.

The next day passed by in the blink of an eye; the time seemed to speed up as the girls hauled Hinata out for a final day out, while the guys minded their own business. _We'll have a guy's night out when everything calms down_, Shino reasoned.

On the day itself the minutes became nanoseconds, and before she knew it Hinata was attending her own wedding reception lunch. Even then the time slipped through her thin fingers, and soon she was walking down the streets of Konohagakure with him beside her, celebratory trumpets blaring and her friends walking next to her, gleefully shouting congratulations.

At the corner of her eye she saw her family; Hanabi, still a teenager and itching to run over to join the fun. Her father stood stone-facedly, but if anything there seemed to be a sliver of pride accentuating his features. Next to him was her domineering grandfather, who despite his usual harsh expression he looked as if he was content enough. Neji, on the other hand, had gone missing ever since his outburst two days prior, and Ten-Ten disappeared after attending the lunch.

They finally approached the majestic gates that marked both the entrance and exit of her home village, and in the middle lay a proud chariot boasting a pull crew of four horses. Inwardly Hinata cringed at the extravagance, but reminded herself of her newfound heritage shortly after; she was the wife of a _Kazekage_, she would have to get used to prodigality and petty luxuries.

The cheers behind her thundered even louder as the doors opened and Gaara led her inside, his ring glimmering in the mid-afternoon sun. Hinata offered him a small smile, which he returned graciously. Temari waved her new boyfriend a brief but awkward goodbye as she mounted her horse, and Kankuro made sure to kiss his female companions adieu while he fitted his scrolls into the pouch of his own horse.

"We thank you for your hospitality, Hokage-sama," Gaara bowed politely, Baki doing the same. Tsunade laughed heartily, having drank more than her fair share of alcohol at the lunch. Beside her Shizune attempted to conceal her impatience with her master, the former's arms wrapping tighter and tighter around poor Ton-Ton.

"Pleasure was all ours," Tsunade answered humbly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Do come by and visit when you can; I'm sure Hinata would love to see her fellow villagers and you and I would always have new things to talk about." At this Gaara nodded good-naturedly, catching the film of premature grief that glazed over her eyes.

"I will be sure to do that," he answered, and took his ally's hand when she proffered hers. The Kazekage felt the Hokage slip a thin fragment of paper onto his palm, making sure he clenched his fist tight once the handshake was dissolved.

The cheers from the crowd reached an almost defining volume when Gaara and Baki bowed deeply to the people gathered at the entrance of Konohagakure. "Sunagakure is indebted to Konohagakure. Should any villager or shinobi of Konohagakure visit Sunagakure with good intentions, Sunagakure will extend the same hospitality you all have showed us so kindly," Gaara declared, making the throng of people bow in return. The kage dipped his head in further gratefulness, entering the chariot amidst new hollers and applause.

The whips cracked and the horses promptly pulled the chariot along the way to Sunagakure, the din behind the group slowly dying out. Opposite him, Hinata sat with her head on her palm, looking out the curtained window. With the speed of the horses taken into account, they would probably reach Sunagakure in less than 3 days, perhaps 1 and a half to 2.

The rhythm of the chariot as it moved with every flex of the horses' muscles, allowing Hinata to close her eyes. Her new silk komon ― a small gift from her tight-lipped father ― was an extremely comfortable garment as compared to the shiromuku, and if anything she was positively exhausted from having to rise even before the tiniest sliver of sunlight seeped into the sky.

The Kazekage would have liked to talk to his new, official spouse, but upon noticing her weariness he held his tongue and merely maintained a small serene smile. Once he was certain she was lost in her own mind and her eyes were more or less determined to continue looking only at her eyelids, he took out the piece of paper Tsunade had given him. Gaara slowly unfurled the folded fragment of delicate paper, and read the only word scrawled in relatively big letters, occupying the entire piece.

_Timing_, it screamed, and with this reinforced in his head Gaara nodded to himself. Yes, timing was important. It was crucial. With another firm nod the kage tore the small bit of information and threw it out the window, the wind taking care of it from there.

_In Konohagakure..._

"You weren't at the wedding, Neji," Hiashi said, monotone. It wasn't a question. With the celebrations coming to an end the Hyuuga clan returned to the manor, where Hiashi proceeded to comb every corner of the property in search of his impudent nephew. "My daughter's wedding, your cousin's wedding, and you didn't attend."

"No, Hiashi-sama," the younger Hyuuga man started to answer, sarcasm dripping from the mention of his uncle's name. "I wasn't there. I'm afraid I had other businesses to attend to."

"Your cousin doesn't get married everyday." There was a sense of harshness and displeasure in his voice.

"And I see you have another daughter, just beside you, Hiashi-sama. Hanabi-sama hasn't been married yet, but I assure you I will be there when she does," Neji countered, not really caring about exactly how disrespectful he sounded.

Standing next to her father, Hanabi's legs began to tremble. She thought about the safety of her cousin; even if he were the most powerful Jounin in the world her father could and would overpower him via the cursed seal. First the news from her father, now this...

"Hanabi, be gone. I will talk to you later," her father ordered, and without a second warning she disappeared from the Japanese garden. Hiashi locked eyes with his nephew, expression stern and unforgiving. "Don't tempt me, Neji."

Once Hiashi said that, something in the man in front of him seemed to buckle and snap. Backing away ever so cautiously, Neji dipped his head. "Forgive me, Hiashi-sama," he mumbled, "I was... Out on a top-secret mission that I can't share, not even with you. Please excuse me." With that said, Neji ducked and hurriedly walked out of the garden.

The genius of the Hyuuga clan rushed back to his room and closed the sliding for shut. Flopping down onto the nearest chair, Neji buried his face into his hands. On his study table lay all the incriminating scrolls of his betrayal ― _he'd have to burn them covertly later._

During his extended family's departure he had managed to absorb about half of it, and as the other half of the pile stood unmoving Neji knew he'd had yet another sleepless night. With a bit of baby powder he had been able to conceal the dark black rings surrounding his weary eyes, but soon he feared he'd have to sneak into Hanabi's room and steal her foundation.

Sighing, Neji frowned. He was most certainly disturbed by the turn of events. Suddenly his cousin got married, and everything just went haywire. Resigned, he forced himself out of his comfortable chair and sat down in front of his array of scrolls.

Personally he considered the information he had to lock inside his head as obsolete ― once the deed was done he already knew what he had to do. His orders had been swift, blunt and precise. The memory of that day was sketchy in his head, probably due to the confusion that followed, but the gist of it would haunt Neji forever…

_Annoyed – he is more than that, seeing as it is two in the morning and still he is summoned to the Hokage Tower. Neji wonders if he should initiate a petition protesting his boss's never-ending tendency of slave-driving her workers. Laughing at the thought, the Hyuuga shakes his head dismissively as he turns at a corner. He glances at the clock in the hallway; it is nearly two forty-five – almost time to meet Ten-Ten._

_At the thought of her, something inside him bursts. Right now she is the embodiment of his life. Never backing away from him despite his cold personality, and always supporting him in whatever he does. Yes, that's his Ten-Ten. And when they secretly entered into a covert relationship he had promised himself he would marry her one-day no matter what._

_Unconsciously his pace quickens at the prospect of his lover; before long Neji finds himself outside the Hokage's office. Inwardly he wonders if Tsunade is asleep – even as the leader of the village she still maintains her tendency to sleep on the job. Besides, it _is_ an unearthly hour and if he had not been anticipating his appointment with Ten-Ten for days, Neji would have used Juuken on that messenger in his sleep._

_He knocks politely and is nearly about to run when silence answers, but alas an old voice speaks and he has no choice but to enter. _

_The scene inside the office is one that leaves him perplexed – Tsunade is wide awake and even seems to be glaring daggers at the two Konoha Council members standing in front of her. At the mere sight of Koharu and Homura, Neji frowns instinctively – whenever they are involved it cannot be anything good. After his boss smiles weakly at him, he relaxes momentarily, but then his assumption comes true._

_"Hyuuga Neji," Koharu acknowledges, her speech lilting and rather high-pitched. Neji likens her to a toad Naruto had summoned not too long ago in order to impress some Academy students under their charge. Needless to say, _that _ended in a complete disaster._

_He is about to greet her as well, but she interrupts him permanently. "You are advised to severe all ties with those close to you," she drawls, a tone that is not unknown to him. Neji thinks of his grandfather, domineering and forever stubborn. Instantly his head snaps up, puzzled. He blinks in surprise, his eyebrows rising._

_"Excuse me," he says, trying to keep his tone level. "But_ what_?"_

_Homura steps in, making Tsunade twitch in her seat. "After your cousin's wedding an important mission will be carried out," he explains, distant and aloof. But he is presenting Neji with information he not yet knows. _

_Spluttering, the Hyuuga's voice rises by a few decibels. "My cousin?" he echoes, evidently even more confused. "Hinata-sama hasn't even been engaged yet…" He directs his gaze to Tsunade, who immediately looks away. Guilt is plastered on her face as she chews her lower lip helplessly. "Tsunade-sama, what is going on?"_

_"Stop asking questions, boy," Koharu chides, ignorant of the internal struggle in the man in front of her. "Listen, and listen well."_

_Neji backs away in slight anger, nodding quickly for a quicker explanation. Glancing at the clock above his boss's head, he sees that it is two forty. _Five more minutes to Ten-Ten, five more minutes to Ten-Ten…

_Clearing her throat, Koharu folds her arms and hardens her expression. The atmosphere in the office is dead serious and the air feels heavy. The wretched council member begins. "After your cousin's wedding to the Kazekage –"_

_"_What_? Hinata-sama is marrying the Kazekage?"_

_She scowls at Neji's impudence, but continues nonetheless. "Those belonging to the Hyuuga Council will be killed," she proclaims, that sense of pomposity surrounding her amplified. "You are not to commit this act, Hyuuga Neji," Koharu declares, and shifts her torso to motion for the Hokage to deliver the final part of his devastating mission._

_Tsunade's frown deepens to a level never seen before by man, and afterwards when she finally relaxes there are still faint markings that adorn her forehead. Still, she looks her fellow shinobi in his shocked, soulless eyes as she inhales, more than unwilling. "Hyuuga Neji of the noble Hyuuga Clan," the Hokage says, apologetic. "After the massacre, you are to disappear."_


	20. Chapter 19

Omiai Chapter 19

Gaara shifted in his sleep, his consciousness slowly coming back to him after a full night's rest. Eventually his eyes opened ever so slowly, but all he could see was pitch-black darkness.

As his green orbs started to adjust, the Kazekage was able to pick out the four walls of cloth that made up his tent, and when he stretched he felt extra space next to him.

_That's right._ Gaara blinked, still quite sleepy. _He's married. Officially._ Patiently, the kage retraced his steps. The night before they all had turned in, Hinata had spent time with her sister-in-law, while Gaara was busy poring over trade documents. Eventually when all the tents had been erected and it was time to hit the hay, Hinata had waited until Gaara had turned all but one small dim light off. He knew this, because even when she snuck in like a thief, Gaara himself was still awake.

It wasn't because of the anticipation of consummating their marriage ― no, he was prepared to wait till they had something more solid than a flimsy camping bed meant for two ― but because of what Gaara had been thinking about ever since they signed those papers. Yes, sex would be part and parcel of their lives as a married couple no matter how awkward or passionate, but the only main thing that plagued his mind about the subject was _how_ he was supposed to guide her.

For sure, his new wife was a chaste woman, since no family would offer their daughter as wives if otherwise. As a man he felt he needed to take the lead when it came right down to it ― regardless of how uncomfortable or awkward it would turn out to be. Women tend to be extremely emotional when it comes to sex, and while men don't seem to think when they do it, women think about practically everything.

So if his wife was worrying about her '_First Time_', as many girls and women alike refer it, Hinata might as well have worried for another two days, because unless he was given a solid bed made out of wood adorned with comfortable sheets, Gaara would not touch her. Rather, the Kazekage had more pressing issues on his mind. Say, the recent hook-up of his sister with that lazy genius of Konohagakure. _Why, if he were to even touch a _hair_ on his __―_

Gaara's thoughts were rudely interrupted by the sound of various pots and pans crashing to the ground, and instantly realised his wife was outside.

He emerged from the tent in his robes, taking in the equal darkness outside. If his eyes hadn't adjusted earlier he'd probably have tripped over a fallen pot and knocked his head on another fallen pan, rendering him unconscious. Still, he stood still at the entrance of the tent and stared at his wife, who was frantically bending down to pick the kitchenware up.

Even in the dark she looked positively stunning. The faint, fading rays of moonlight bathed her pale face and contrasted with her deep, rich midnight blue hair. She had changed back into her usual clothing of a jacket and her daily ninja pants (_Temari asked her if she had done this to avoid doing _that_ later on, to which Hinata merely flushed her face silly._), but as she bent down and stood up he could see the clear outline of her curves, and how smooth her silhouette seemed to be.

"Are you alright?" he asked good-naturedly, walking forward after checking his path clear of any disastrous obstacle. When he saw a pot in the ground he picked it up and hugged it between his chest and his arms.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Gaara-kun," Hinata replied nervously, stooping to gently place her stacked pans into a relatively safe place. She reached for the pot in her husband's arms, and gratefully received it when he proffered. "Did I wake you?"

"Yes," Gaara answered bluntly. "Well, no, not exactly," he quickly amended as he saw Hinata's embarrassed expression. "Just that your little adventure with my comrades' kitchenware made a little noise. I was up before I heard it, I assure you." He helped her pick another stray pot up. It was silver in colour, and gleamed happily in the pale light. "What are you doing up so early anyway? It's not even sunrise."

At this Hinata smiled, and Gaara felt his ears heat up as he looked directly at her when he handed the pot over. "Well, Gaara-kun," she started to answer, slowly placing the silver pot flat onto the ground and sitting on a rock that overlooked the river below them. The spot they had chosen for rest that night was a beautiful clearing that provided an exquisite view of the moon, no trees or landforms obstructing the spectacle, save for a mountain range that was far away the site. She gestured to the spot next to her, and her husband sat down as well. "I like watching the sun rise. It's really pretty."

The Kazekage pondered this. Observing people, he could understand. But watching the sunrise? What could she possibly stand to gain from that? Unless she was some sort if secret sun goddess who gained power in the mornings by absorbing the colours and sunrays, Gaara didn't see any profit. He was curious, so he asked if Hinata did this in Konoha.

She went pink for the briefest moment, but chuckled sheepishly and hugged her knees. "How'd you know?"

The kage felt a wry smile settle on his face. He shrugged, as if apathetic. "Just a guess."

"It should be happening soon," she told him as the darkness started draining away. Gaara was able to pick his wife's delicate features out, and saw that she was smiling. He wondered if she was smiling because of him.

A few more minutes of relaxing silence passed before the pair could barely make out a sliver of sunlight. It peeked out from the peak of the opposing mountain range, sunrays bathing the leaves of small trees a rich golden yellow. Hinata jumped up excitedly, pointing to the vast blue sky that was being stained orange-yellow. "Look, Gaara-kun," she almost squealed in anticipation, and her husband was indeed looking. "Isn't it beautiful?"

The canvas of orange prompted the star to appear, and as it did a bright whitish yellow glow coated the spherical shape as it emerged slowly from the mountains. The relative dimness of the clouds in the sky made the heavens seem darker. The magnificent rays almost blinded the Kazekage, and when he turned his head he saw Hinata bask in the sunlight. Once again the nature around her only amplified her natural beauty, and the kage wondered when he got so lucky.

_Oh yeah_, he answered rather cynically to himself. _Ever since he became kage and was forced into a political marriage by his village counselors._ Nevertheless, if anything good was to come out of his marriage, at least his wife was tolerable and nice to look at. If he needed to invite any minister or leader for some agreement, bringing Hinata along would prove useful…

He caught himself – Gaara realised he was thinking of his wife's _usefulness_; her _value_ as a spouse. Subconsciously he wondered if his father thought like this when he was thinking of Gaara when he was alive, and sheepishly dismissed that prospect. The warmth from the sun touched and bathed his pale skin, and it made him somewhat comfortable.

The sun took a few minutes to fully occupy its rightful place in the heavens, and once the procession was over Gaara heard his Hinata heave a deep sigh. He turned around and saw a contented smile on his wife's face. "It was pretty," he admitted, and then sat back down onto the rock. She did the same, breathing evenly as she looked and grinned at the orange sky. "Do you do this often?"

"Only when I'm on missions," Hinata answered, turning to face him. She saw his warm eyes, and whether it was the result of the Princeton orange rays enhancing the colour of his face and turning it into an apricot shade or just the plausible fact that he had warmed up to her, Hinata didn't know. That didn't mean she was about to ask – she rather liked this new sense of familiarity between them, and would hate it if it were broken because of careless words. She recalled what happened last time… "When I'm at home I don't do this much."

Inching closer to her, Gaara could see the peach-yellow shade of orange that the sun had tainted his wife's skin to, and he used his hand to feel a lock of her silky, deep traditional royal blue hair. Hinata jumped a little when she felt his hand, but quickly evaluated her previous actions and decided she didn't do anything wrong. As he expected – her hair was silky, soft, flowing and just plain good to feel. "Your hair's nice," he complimented simply, making her flush again. Hinata felt her ears go a light shade of burnt sienna.

She managed a soft _Thank you_, but paused after she couldn't seem to tear away from his gaze. They had established eye contact for some time before Gaara knew what he was going to do. Ever so stiffly, he edged his face closer to hers, brushing her soft locks of hair aside and leaning in.

A small gasp escaped her lips and the Kazekage felt her warm breath. She smelled of a combination of peppermints and strawberries. At the corner of his eye he noticed Hinata's face growing increasingly redder as he moved closer, from a light persimmon to coquelico, to a rather dark shade of rust. Her ears were already far beyond vermillion.

When his face was a mere inch away to hers and it seemed inevitable, he felt Hinata go rigid – with nervousness, he supposed. But Gaara wasn't really thinking, anyway – his eyes were trained on how impeccably perfect her lips seemed to look.

Gaara smiled a little, in an attempt to calm his wife's blush. At this her body relaxed somewhat, and she allowed her face to be held in his warm, capable hand. The Kazekage tipped his head sideways, his eyelids slowly and gently going down. His own lips drew closer to hers, and just when they were about to touch…

"I'm uppppppp."

The sudden, almost monotonous drawl coming from one of the tents made both individuals jump, and with the interruption their chances for privacy were all but gone.

Gaara and Hinata scooted away from each other in an instant; he even leapt from the rock they were sitting on and hurriedly walked over to a tree, busying himself with the kitchenware his wife had dropped not too long ago. As he kneeled down to examine the pots, the tent flap of his brother's tent opened and Kankuro emerged, stretching his arms and yawning. He blinked, taking in the scene around him. And then, as Kankuro's mind was always wont to do, he connected the dots.

And realised his days were possibly numbered.

The puppeteer was about to run for the high heavens, but remembered it was best to apologize first – Gaara seemed to always relent whenever his older brother admitted to his wrongs. So the man rushed over to his younger brother, and squatted down next to him, his hands together in a praying motion. He forced out a strained sort of laughter, and patted his brother on the back. "Hey, little brother," he chuckled nervously, "Sorry about that. I'll disappear back into my tent again, and I swear I'll not come out until I hear Baki yell for me! Just forget I ever appeared, okay?"

Satisfied with his apology and not really wanting to hang around Gaara any longer – his body was exuding some kind of murderous intent – Kankuro jumped up and ran back into the sanctuary of his tent, zipping all the entrances up regardless of the stuffiness.

Gaara let out an irritated sigh, but didn't bother to pursue his sibling – he'd deal with him later. Silently, the Kazekage stood and slowly walked toward Hinata, whose face had already became a tint of cardinal red. He sat down next to her, albeit at the farthest spot possible, and heaved another heavy sigh.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled, feeling heat rush up to his ears. The kage wondered if his ears would ever be able to turn vermillion as well. "I'll deal with him later."

"It-it's okay," Hinata assured, staring at her fingers. She figured ten years of her life were gone when she had a mini heart attack at Kankuro's sudden appearance.

Then she felt his eyes on her, and tentatively turned her head to face him, as courtesy demanded this. Hinata felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she saw him, however, and smiled weakly.

Gaara had a small grin on his face. With the side of his head facing the morning sun, half of his face was a light peach-orange and the other half was dyed a dark gamboge colour. "Let's watch the sunrise tomorrow."


	21. Chapter 20

Omiai Chapter 20

Neji awoke from his sleep, half his head covered with the imprint of inked words. He shook his head from side to side, making his hair move a little. The Hyuuga made a note to wash his hair later ― usually he'd take meticulous care of his hair, but with everything going on Neji had had more pressing things to deal with. For a while he feared his hair had lost its silkiness, but that was far from his concern now.

It was to happen two days from now, and then he was to disappear. Neji didn't know who had been ordered to kill his family, but inwardly he pitied the man; if he weren't powerful enough he would die. The Hyuuga sighed, leaning back onto the soft support of the chair. Perhaps that was why Neji himself hadn't been ordered to kill the council ― he'd never really received the reason _why_ such orders were carried out ― maybe Tsunade knew Neji wouldn't be strong enough to murder those members of the council.

At the back of his mind, Ten-Ten stood calling out for his attention. Neji closed his eyes, focusing on how sharp her features had gotten, how long her chocolate brown hair had grown, how much strength she had gained ― mentally, physically and emotionally. He thought about how brave she had been, not shedding a tear till he had been able to run away from her like the coward he was. Silently, Neji wondered if she was alright, if she had been taking good care of herself. He wondered if she was eating well.

"Neji?" a harsh voice resounded from outside his screen door, knocking said man from his reverie. Neji fumbled about, desperately trying to hide his scrolls should the person try to come in.

"Yes?" he answered, shoving the papers into his drawer.

"Tsunade-sama has summoned you to her office."

_Again?_ Neji thought, annoyed. If she still felt like she had a guilty conscience, his boss should have taken it out on those bastards of the Konoha Council. "I'll be there immediately."

There was no reply, and Neji supposed the person had gone off. With another shake of his head, Neji stood up, going toward his adjoining bathroom to quickly wash up. He thought about his cousin; she and her entourage would be reaching Sunagakure around now...

_Near Sunagakure…_

A day and a half ― that was all it had taken for Hinata to get to Sunagakure by carriage. Bumpy or not, Hinata could already see the outline of the village, encased by the high sand walls that both protected and secluded it. Gaara had made sure to point his homeland out to her, a bright twinkle in his green eyes as the incident a few hours ago seemed to have been forgotten.

Still, she was absolutely nervous. Her fingers couldn't stay apart for more than a minute, her lips just couldn't stop stuttering nonsense, and her eyes kept going everywhere. Her new husband picked it up, but if he wanted to do something, he didn't. Gaara merely stared and stared, and just before they were about to stop, he offered just one sentence of comfort; "We're here."

And yes, they had reached Sunagakure. Hinata didn't need to poke her head out from the carriage window to notice the shrieking throngs of people waiting outside, more than ready to welcome their Kazekage home. She shuddered, wondering how the village people would react to her, an outsider who had inadvertently become their ruler's wife.

Gaara hopped out of the vessel effortlessly, and the crowd cheered even louder once they laid eyes on their kage. He stopped short of walking into Sunagakure, though, choosing instead to help Hinata out of the carriage; she was wearing her komon, after all, and it was very difficult to move freely.

On the other hand, Kankuro and Temari proceeded down the pathway cleared for them, with Baki trailing behind the pair of siblings. The puppeteer grinned at his audience, but his sister simply politely smiled her way through the crowd. The trio were already entering the premises of the village when the air suddenly stood still ― the Kazekage's new wife was emerging from the carriage.

Deafening screeches of unwavering support turned to hushed whispers in an instant, and everyone seemed to be holding their breaths as Hinata's foot came into view. Then out came her covered legs, her slender wrist, the rest of her concealed arms, her ducked head of luscious tresses that looked soft even to the crowd, and finally Hinata showed herself in all her glory.

Her refined beauty, so sophisticated, so precious, required a minute or two to be absorbed by the eyes of the villagers. They were in awe – such a rare exquisite beauty, married to their just and respected Kazekage. At first the cheers came trickling in, then as Hinata started walking down the pathway, her hand clutching her husband's, they erupted into all-out screams of congratulations. She felt blood rush to her ears and cheeks, and felt Gaara squeeze her fingers reassuringly. Hinata turned to look at him, but the kage was too busy waving and nodding his head to smile at his wife.

"It's going to be okay," Gaara whispered instead as the couple walked through the chasm between the two walls. He shifted his fingers so Hinata's own long ones were entwined with his. "We're going to be okay," her husband told her, and Hinata knew so.

_At the Hokage Tower…_

Tsunade's eyebrows were aching. Okay, they really weren't, but after whole hours of furrowing them over angry eyes, the Hokage was about to call it quits. But she couldn't, because she still had to take care of certain urgent issues. Oh, how she hated her job sometimes.

Before she could rant out loud, the door was knocked and the person came in. It was Sasuke, and while he was closing the door Neji arrived.

The Hyuuga took one look at the Uchiha, and they both let out deep scowls. Yet they didn't say anything, so Tsunade assumed they knew why both of them had been summoned. She rested her chin on her palm, pushing her chair forward. The Hokage motioned for the two males to go closer.

"Neji," she started, "I assume you know why Sasuke is here as well."

Neji closed his tired eyes in indignation. Crossing his arms, he said, "Uchiha Sasuke isn't good enough for the job. He'll only get killed, and then the council will get suspicious."

Sasuke snorted. "As if they probably aren't _already_," he countered, and his hands instinctively flew to the handle of his sheathed tantō, his fingers dancing along the frame of it. "You've avoided your _cousin's_ wedding. How is there _nothing_ to be suspicious about?"

A low growl escaped from the Hyuuga's lips. "Don't test me, Sasuke," he warned.

Sasuke smirked. "Did you kill a person deserving of becoming Hokage?" the Uchiha taunted. "You're just a little–"

"Stop," the weary Hokage roared, and both men turned sheepishly to their boss. "I didn't summon the both of you here to listen to you two argue," she chided, crossing her arms. Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers, "The mission will be carried out in tomorrow instead."

Neji's eyes widened in shock and mild horror. He blinked a few times, trying to digest this new nugget of information. "But you said it'd happen in _two_ days," he managed, his tone strained and choked, "Two days, Tsunade-sama."

"The council…"

The Hyuuga's visage instantly hardened at the mention of the two pompous infidels, and his fists clenched. Shaking his head, Neji silently wondered who had the real power. "I understand," he sighed, his voice gravelly and resigned. By now Neji had realised the situation was beyond hope; any chance for the miracle he had wished for was already long gone.

"Then you may leave," Tsunade ordered, after she handed a green colored scroll to the white-eyed shinobi. "Tell your family I've just assigned you an S-ranked mission."

With a curt nod Neji left the Uchiha and the Senju, carefully shutting the door behind him. As soon as he was out of sight, it was Sasuke's turn to shake his head in dismay. "You shouldn't have told him it was me," he mumbled.

The Hokage looked out of the window, her back to the man. She wondered if the clouds knew how free they were. She wondered if the bustling village below the walls of the tower was ready for the planned scandal. "He had a right to know, Sasuke," Tsunade countered, "You were only seven; Neji needs to know."

Sasuke let out a long sigh, and then said, "I assume my orders have just been pushed one day forward?"

She couldn't look at him – couldn't see the guilt that would be evident in his eyes as it was in his voice, no matter how hard he tried to hide it under his rough exterior. "Yes," she sighed, thinking about how easily things could have been solved.


	22. Chapter 21

Omiai Chapter 21

_Forty-five minutes_ ― that was all it took for him to finish his mission.

~X~

Gaara stirred in his sleep, turning to his left, then to his right, then back to his left side. And finally when he gave in to his gut feelings, the Kazekage left his bed and went to the living room, closing the wide bedroom door. He sat on his wide couch, sipping warm milk ― _his alcohol resistance is almost non-existent_ ― and making sure to avoid making too much noise so his wife would be able to remain blissfully asleep.

They hadn't done it yet, but that was far from his concern. The pale moonlight seeped into the confines of his sitting room, and while half of the space was engulfed in darkness, the other appeared to be bathed in silver. The kage closed his eyes, two fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. What bothered him... What nagged and gnawed at his mind...

"_Kazekage-sama_," a deep voice from outside his living room window whispered into the space between the four walls. Gaara nodded, his back facing the ANBU reporter. The wind whistled through the air, and the leaves rustled noisily.

"It has been done," the shinobi related, and Gaara swallowed his milk with resignation. With a brief nod of his red head, the ANBU disappeared, leaving the Kazekage to his thoughts.

_Now_, he thought to himself, sighing. _It's time for me to do my part._

~X~

She crept toward the Council room, tip-toeing so no excessive noise would be made. _Timing_, she told herself, _is key._ As her hair flew around her face freely while she turned around a corner quickly, she ducked and dashed across the courtyard.

She held her breath, and, with her back to the closed screen doors, pulled them open. She had her eyes closed even when she screamed, reaching a pitch not known to man.

The servants and assistants came flocking to her not more than two minutes after the sound from her throat travelled to their ears. When they descended upon her, she was on the floor and her palms were covering her own ears, still screaming as wet tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"Hanabi-sama, Hanabi-sama," they chorused, worry and anxiety more than apparent in their tone. Their hands landed on her shoulder, her head, her back, as they crouched to look at their mistress at eye level. They were so occupied with their hysterical heiress that they didn't see the bodies littering the wooden floor of the room…

Till she pointed to the scene of the crime.

Gasps and speechlessness filled the four walls, and they forgot the girl at their feet. They stood up slowly, their white eyes absorbing the spectacle. The only sound that was heard in the room was the sobbing of the Hyuuga heiress, shuddering and hiccupping on the floor.

Blood – bright, ruby blood that smelled of iron was smeared all over the walls of the room, with pale bodies lying on the floor, on the table, slouching over in chairs. In the heart of the room lay the supreme Hyuuga Elder, grandfather to Hanabi and Hinata, and father to Hiashi and Hizashi. His mouth was somewhat parted, his dead soulless eyes wide open, gazing emptily into the ceiling. Right in the middle of his chest, a red flower had bloomed, and next to him lay Hiashi.

"Hanabi-sama," Ko spluttered, walking backwards slowly. He pulled his mistress up, his arm slung over her shaking shoulder. "We'd better go report this to Tsunade-sama."

She took a little reprieve from her weeping, and turned to look at her sister's ex-caretaker. With one breath she whispered, barely audible to human ears, "Where's Neji?"

~X~

The Kazekage leaned backward, resting in the support of his comfortable chair. If Matsuri wasn't standing in front of him all ready to cry, he could have very well have fallen into a really deep sleep. Unfortunately, she _was_ standing in front of him, awaiting a response to the letter she had presented to her boss.

Gaara cleared his throat, and Matsuri wiped her eyes dry. "Matsuri," he said her name with such care it made her flinch. "Please tell me why you're doing this."

The kunoichi shook her head, fearing if she opened her mouth all that would come out were wasted sobs. Her vision blurred with the tears that started forming again, and she shrugged as she looked away.

The redhead fingered the letter, crisp and looking as if it were written last night. He cringed. "Please tell me this isn't because of–"

"It is," she interrupted, her breaths short and her words strained. "It _is_ about you and your new wife."

Gaara blinked for a while, surveying the kunoichi in front of him. She was once his student, he reminded himself; she once looked to him for advice and to save her life when needed. She needed him. _And she still did_. He swallowed, caught between a rock and a hard place. "It says here you're getting married. You never told me you were engaged."

Matsuri sniffed and gazed at the floor. "That doesn't matter," she countered, then walked toward her former teacher, motioning to her letter. "I just need you to sign it."

The kage heaved a deep, resigned sigh – first the Hyuuga, now Matsuri. Sometimes he felt being a kage just wasn't worth it. Regardless, his green eyes glanced through her words once more, hovering over them for a few seconds. He looked up, his invisible eyebrows knitted in an upward motion. "You're an excellent shinobi, Matsuri. Suna needs you. _I_ need you."

She couldn't bear to speak her mind anymore, just shook her head and covered her mouth. With her other hand she wiped her eyes again. "Please, Gaara-sama," she begged. "_Just sign it._"

He hesitated, and then as he was about to crumple the paper, throw it out of the window and give his former student one of his awkwardly reassuring hugs, one of his secretaries popped his head through the doorframe. "Kazekage-sama," he greeted curtly, ignoring the girl who was waiting inside his office. "Your wife, Hinata-sama, has received the letter."

Gaara cursed under his breath, and with a wave of his hand dismissed the man. Matsuri looked at her boss, her black eyes seemingly dead. She then glanced at the papers on his desk, her hands shaking at her sides. _Please_, she mouthed, not trusting her voice. _Please just _sign _it_.

The image of a hysterical Hinata at home clogged his mind, and before he could even think he unconsciously took his pen and acknowledged the form. The moment the nib of the writing instrument left the smooth surface of the paper, Matsuri rushed toward Gaara, grabbed it, and dashed out of the office, her tears the only thing she left behind.

_I'm sorry_, she screamed to herself in her mind, running through the streets of Sunagakure, hugging the paper close to her chest. _I'm sorry I couldn't stay._


	23. Chapter 22

Omiai Chapter 22

Tsunade cringed as the door burst open and a red-faced Hanabi, accompanied by Ko, entered. A part of her didn't think they had obtained the permission of Shizune to enter ― not that it mattered, of course. She just didn't feel like dealing with any of this right now. Her eyes met the puffy white ones of the girl, and with a wave of the latter's hand, Ko was dismissed.

A silence ensued, which Tsunade broke. "How was it?" she questioned, her voice hoarse. She really thought she should retire soon...

Hanabi flopped down onto the sofa, exhausted from the crying. "Excessively bloody," she shivered. "The Uchiha didn't _have_ to put my father's body next to my grandfather's. And he didn't have to pierce my grandfather's chest to kill him." Disgust was evident in her voice, prompting the medic nin to wonder if the Hyuuga heiress would require medical attention.

Regardless, the Hokage shrugged. "You Hyuuga aren't very easy to kill," she pointed out, eliciting a small proud smirk from Hanabi. "Perhaps that's how Sasuke finished the job in less than an hour," Tsunade added.

The girl's eyes went wide for just a split second, but afterward she scoffed and started pinching the bridge of her nose. "It seems the standards of my family's council has really deteriorated," she sighed, exhaling deeply, "The sooner we'd gotten rid of them, the better."

Tsunade stiffened at the harshness of the Hyuuga, and started wondering about the mission… "I'd like to talk to you about Neji, however," the Hokage started, and Hanabi shot her a weary look. Her puffy eyes only exemplified her tire, and Tsunade made a mental note to pass some medicine to her later.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama," the Hyuuga girl mumbled, trying to hide the annoyance in her tone. "We've had this conversation before."

"Then with that respect, we will have this conversation again," the blond persisted, and Hanabi nodded finally, resigned and not really wanting to pick a fight with her boss. She leaned back against the support of the couch, closing her eyes. For a moment Hanabi allowed herself to drift in her sub-conscious, find her happy place while her boss questioned her.

"What do you want to know, Hokage-sama?" she prodded politely, willing the time to pass quickly. Part of her was focusing on the funeral arrangements, as well as the cleaning up of the council room…

The Hokage hesitated, just for a moment, but enforced her resolve not too long afterward. _She had to know…_ "About Neji," she began, and at the corner of her eyes she saw Hanabi flinch. "I hardly believe this was all his plan."

The Hyuuga could feel her eyebrows come together again. "You're right," she conceded, "Neji-Nii-san's hatred for the main house is little to none as of now. But, Tsunade-sama, I never thought of the clan in this light till Nii-san himself came and started talking to me."

"So…"

Hanabi sighed. "One night Nii-san came to me while I was resting and talked to me about the future of the Hyuuga Clan. He and I formulated the plan, as was presented to you, but when it came to choosing the scapegoat…" She trailed off, bad memories coming back to her. Unable to continue, Hanabi shrugged. "_You know_," she added.

"You thought Sasuke would just _accept_ the status of scapegoat?" Anger was evident in her tone, but most of her words came out of simple curiosity. "Sasuke may have been an S-rank criminal, but now he is a part of–"

"My Uncle was also a part of Konohagakure, Tsunade-sama," Hanabi countered, a thin undertone of warning lining her reminder. "And I don't think I need to tell you of his fate."

Then it was the Hokage's turn to frown, and she cleared her throat in perturbation. "You're telling me Neji agreed to this because of his _father_?" disbelief clear in her tone, she crossed her arms, indignant.

"Neji-Nii-san agreed to this of his own accord. I told him not to do it..." here the girl frowned and muttered her words with a substantial amount of annoyance. "Like his father, he believes that this will be his only chance to choose his own fate as a branch member..." Hanabi slowly grew slightly disturbed herself, and sat up as she pulled her knees close to her chest. "Nii-san said something about his sacrifice helping the next generation of Hyuuga..."

"Like father like son..." Tsunade muttered under her breath, feeling a headache coming on. "Then I assume he's either still in the compound or he has gone?"

"Gone," Hanabi replied curtly. "I saw him off myself. He's left something hidden in his room, and I'll be sure to enforce the presumption of the Uchiha's innocence." As she finished her answer, her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Also, Tsunade-sama," she added, "About my sister and Ten-Ten..."

The blond female nodded. "Hinata will remain in Sunagakure till she has calmed down. I don't advise you to visit her as well. As for Ten-Ten, don't worry; I've talked to her. She won't be involved in this any more."

Hanabi stood up, finished with the conversation. "If that is all, Tsunade-sama, then I shall take my leave."

The fifth Hokage waved her hand, and the Hyuuga girl went to the door. She turned the knob ever so slowly, taking a deep breath as she thought of the possible commotion among the rest of her clan. She would have to deal with it now, Hyuuga Council or not.

With the door creaking open, Hanabi rubbed her eyes, the white pools of newfound determination shining. She gave her boss a small smile, and started walking out of the office. Her face felt hot and her cheeks felt sticky.

"One more thing," Tsunade said as Hanabi was halfway out the door. The latter turned around, her dark hair swirling with the quick movement of her head. The Hokage shot her a wry, weary expression, and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Tsunade offered, and Hanabi dipped her head once more before disappearing around the corner.

~X~

His pots were broken, and his cacti were on the floor.

While that fact alone could have sparked a temper from the Kazekage seen only when he had been possessed by the Shukaku, Gaara cringed. Slowly, he pushed the front door of his home, and tiptoed his way to the living room, carefully avoiding the dangerous shards of pottery.

He found her in their room, the bed sheets pulled away from the mattress and more cacti sprawled on the floor. Inwardly his heart ached a little. A small sigh escaped his lips, and his wife's head snapped up, her eyed glistening with tears.

Gaara's own green orbs moved from the visage of Hinata to the piece of paper on the bed, crisp and reminding him of Matsuri. And then his glance shifted back to the woman curled up on the bare mattress, her rich tresses clinging to her sticky skin. A dreadful, painful silence filled the room and made the air heavy.

The Kazekage approached her, taking his time as he worked to soften his expression. He sat on the edge of the rather soft support, moving his arm closer to her so he could touch her face.

"I want to go back."

It was said as a small whisper, and her lips were shaking with every lilting word. She flinched and recoiled slightly as Gaara's hand finally brushed against her jaw, prompting the latter to move onto the bed.

"Hinata, I—"

"_Please_," she begged, allowing her husband to sling his arm around her shoulder and pull her into a little cuddle. But Hinata felt no warmth; all she was thinking about was the letter in front of her. "I _need_ to go back."

He hesitated and fought the urge to pull his arm back. His ally's words plagued his mind, but he just _couldn't_... Gaara knew the pain of losing someone so precious, and even though Hinata had had a strained relationship with her father, by then she more or less knew she loved him no matter what. His wife felt stiff at his touch, and he let out another sigh. It was his turn to apologize; "I'm sorry, Hinata. I can't allow you to go back."

Her eyes grew wide at his soft refusal, and she shook with more choked sobs. Hinata's delicate lips parted but came together, making her resemble a sort of gaping fish. And then she shuffled hurriedly away from her husband, her eyes averting his appropriately quizzical expression. "Get out," his wife ordered, softly at first.

Gaara retracted his arm instantly, and his green eyes narrowed slightly. Instead of getting off the mattress he moved closer to the hunched form of his wife. "Hinata, please. I can't allow you to—"

"_Get. Out_," the ex-Hyuuga repeated, anger and hurt clear in her tone. He barely managed to make out the thin line of moisture that leaked from the corner of her white, painful eyes to the edge of her face. Gaara heaved a reluctant sigh, and walked toward the bedroom door as he heard muffled hiccups and choked weeping.

"I'm sorry," the Kazekage told his new quivering spouse. From his vantage point his room looked like a mess. With his hand on the knob and his body halfway out the premises of his sleeping quarters, he turned his head once more before grunting and leaving his house.

"Hinata," he said, loud and clear for her to hear even though she was covering her ears. "My decision stands; I'm really sorry I can't do anything more."


	24. Chapter 23

Omiai Chapter 23

"Gaara," the female standing opposite him said sharply, snapping his train of thought into half. He shook his head a little, and after that he blinked for a few seconds as he gathered himself. The Kazekage shifted his gaze from the pastel-colored wall to the frowning face of his sister, impatience eating away at her visage.

Her gloved hands dropped from her hips to her thighs, and unconsciously he flinched. "Pay attention when I'm speaking!" Temari continued to chide him, even though she knew of the mission. Really, sometimes Gaara wanted to banish his sister to Konohagakure.

His eyes went over hers once again, and then he closed them, tired. "What did you say?" he finally spoke, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

Temari let out a long exasperated sigh, and turned around so her youngest brother couldn't see her eyes roll. "I said," she replied, slowly this time, "that Hinata's family has sent word of her little sister's journey here. She's riding on a horse, so she'll be here within a day and a half or less."

The Kazekage nodded, taking in the information. "How many?"

"Just her little sister. If you don't mind, we'll accommodate her in your new apartment." The answer was curt and strained, and for a moment Gaara wondered if her detachment was because of his lack of attention or Shikamaru. There was an awkward silence, which Temari was prompted to break with, "So how's she?"

Gaara's head jerked up from his small pile of paper work, and his eyes were a little wider than normal. After a few seconds he composed himself, and quickly averted his gaze from the form of his sister to the floor. "She won't let me in our room. I've ordered the helpers to leave food periodically outside but it's been a day and she hasn't touched it."

There was a tinge of shame and guilt and something else the kunoichi couldn't put her finger on, and she frowned slightly. Temari nodded solemnly and then perked up. "Did you guys..."

He dealt a harsh, steely gaze to her, as if that were the least of his worries. "No," came his cold reply, his mind a million miles away. And when his sister came to wear a mask of absolute disbelief, he reassured her, "No, we haven't consummated our marriage" ― Here it seemed as if she would blow up ― "It didn't seem right and I couldn't do it."

There was annoyance in his tone, and Temari knowingly backed off. "Alright then," she mumbled, numb and wary. And then, just as cautiously, "You _do_ know you're going to _have_ to finish what you started _sometime_, don't you?"

This time he mustered up the strength to fully shoot one of his petrifying glares at her, rendering his sister rather shaken. "I'm not stupid Temari," he warned, pushing his chair backward and taking a brush from his brush holder. Gaara positioned his hand above the small stack of paper on his desk, willing it to transport him somewhere else, anywhere but here. "I know what I have to do, even if I didn't start any of this."

The blond grimaced, and she headed for the door, knowing all too well what her littlest brother implied when he was ready to start on his paper work. Before she walked out Temari turned once more, hesitating. And then her eyes softened somewhat as the teal orbs settled on the slouching form of the Kazekage.

"I know you did this as a favor for the Hokage," Temari sighed, "But you never know; this might turn out to be a good thing."

Gaara closed his own eyes once more, allowing his mind to wander. He thought about the wondrously, almost blasphemously beautiful woman at his own home, of how she smiled just a little whenever she had seen him, of how the color of her face grew just a little darker and redder whenever he moved closer to her…

_Maybe_, he said to himself as he got up from his chair, steeling his emotions and dismissing his pride. Gaara knew what he had to do.

~X~

Hanabi gathered her clothing, her thoughts drifting away. She took a bundle and placed it into her bag, filling it halfway. After that the young girl padded toward her neatened bed, and sat stiffly on it. Gently moving her fingertips along the surface of the duvet, she looked wearily at her nightstand, and the two lone notes sitting innocuously on top of it. One had been opened, and the other kept perfectly sealed.

The one that was practically ripped open was hers, and the other was addressed to her sister. The handwriting on the envelope was too neat to be her cousin's, and too messy to be from the lesser members of her clan.

It was from her father.

Hanabi exhaled heavily and fell backward, landing softly on the mattress. She had read that letter and reread it thrice, but the information was still being processed in her head.

Gingerly, she stretched her arm to touch the crisp piece of folded paper, almost recoiling when her skin brushed the coarse surface of the letter. The new heiress took a deep breath, and held it as she grasped the paper and brought it back to her visage, her hands shaking.

Hanabi let out a long sigh but held her breath again afterward as her pearlescent orbs scanned through the words for the fifth time…

_Hanabi,_

_If you have this letter it means that I have been killed. Do not panic, do not worry; I have ensured your safety, Hinata's safety and the safety of the rest of the clan. I am not sure of what you may be feeling right now, but I need you to know the reasons behind what I did, not because I feel I need to justify my actions. It is because I need you to learn from our past mistakes._

_As you know, for the longest time, the Cursed Seal had existed in the Hyuuga Clan. It was expected, of course, that every member of the branch family be labeled with this seal. Again, you should know this piece of information. The seal will only disappear after that person has died, and in doing so it seals away the Byakugan, our precious family heirloom. _

_You should also know that the Cursed Seal is extremely powerful and that anybody who knows how to activate it has the ability to destroy the victim's brains. _

_What you saw with your cousin is but a fragment of the hatred toward the main house. His past hatred for us only existed because of his father, and as much as I would like to admit it, I do not think your cousin ever truly hated us._

_Regardless, I want you to know that I did what I did for the sake of the Hyuuga, and as the Head of the Clan I am not in the least bit ashamed or embarrassed. On the other hand, I do not advise you to tell this to our fellow clansmen. You should know what a huge uproar this will create._

_You need to understand that for the longest time, the Cursed Seal was known to be cruel and terrible. Even the placing of the seal upon somebody is scarring and traumatic, so even to this day I doubt your cousin has gotten over the pain he had experienced so many years ago. _

_I shall not beat around the bush. _

The Hyuuga Council wanted to place the Cursed Seal on your sister and her children.

_You should know by now that the Byakugan is a dominant trait in the Hyuuga, and so long as a person has Hyuuga blood in them they will have the Byakugan, no matter how weak or how strong. To this effect the Hyuuga Council saw it fit to condemn your sister and your future nieces and nephews to this fate, in order to protect the Byakugan._

_It would have been foolish of me to oppose this overtly. After the incident with your uncle I have come to realise that the council will do any despicable act to, as they say, '_protect the Hyuuga_'. So I incited your cousin and told him to go to you. I didn't think you would take it so well, but you did. If you have any questions I would suggest you ask your cousin; I have told him all I know and perhaps even a little bit more._

_Do not ask why, Hanabi, I just wanted you to know. _

_As the next Head of the Hyuuga Clan, I expect you to protect the Hyuuga. I will not accept any excuses for any mistakes, and I promise you I _will_ do something if I see the Hyuuga in any danger. I played a huge gamble with this coup and I do not wish to see my own daughter fail me. _

_The other letter is addressed to your sister. I want you to pass it to her as soon as you finish reading. It is of utmost importance, and you are not to look at it under any circumstance. Should you find yourself in a tight spot, however, you may burn the letter. I do not want it to fall into undesirable hands._

_I have placed my faith in you, Hanabi. Do not fail me._

_Your Father,_

_Hyuuga Hiashi_

For a moment she blanked out, and then Hanabi started to blink. Her eyes stung and she rubbed them, but the moisture kept coming and very soon the dam she had been maintaining so well gave way, and the barriers around her icy heart shattered into a million pieces.


	25. Chapter 24

Omiai Chapter 24

Hinata couldn't cry anymore.

Numb, bitter, but most of all resigned, she was sprawled across the rather big bed, her breathing now slow and steady. Her face was sticky and hotter than usual, and it was most probably red. Not forgetting puffy.

Sighing softly, she rubbed her eyes and closed them, tired and unhappy and just plain sick of everything.

So what if her father and the Council had been mercilessly slaughtered by her own cousin?

So what if the man she'd initially thought to be far better than the rumors suggested was actually just as they said ― a monster, nothing more, nothing less.

So what if she was to be banished to a life of solitude and silence, bound forever to the man like a slave and never able to fully mourn?

Silently, Hinata held her breath as she got off the bed. She headed to the adjoining bathroom, and took the sharpest thing she could find.

~X~

The kunoichi frowned, her eyebrows coming together in consternation over a pair of despairing eyes. Her pupils dilated, she pulled back in sheer shock and confusion. Stifled emotion choked her, and she barely managed to articulate herself correctly.

"You're joking, right?" she croaked, her throat suddenly scorched. Here she attempted a knowing smile, and broke out in soft, nervous chuckles. "This is a joke, isn't it? You're still bitter over my resignation, so that's why..."

At his lack of a response she paused, waiting for a reaction. _He has to be mocking her..._

Her expression changed instantly when he opened his mouth but hesitated, his eyes no longer looking into her soul. He glanced at the floor, and afterwards shot her a look of pure pleading brimming with regret. For a while she wondered if that was what she looked like all those years.

_Pathetic._

No wonder he rejected her...

"I'm very serious, Matsuri. I need you to do this favour for me," came his tentative, gravelly reply. There was another brief pause, and then he added rather pitifully, "Please." He had already been frowning when he knocked on the door and awkwardly raised the subject, but she never thought she'd ever be able to see him this flustered and desperate.

Now it was her turn to rearrange her facial expression, and it inadvertently morphed into one of helplessness. She couldn't... For the life of her she couldn't...

And then, her Kazekage said to her the words she'd always wanted to hear, albeit this time he seemed to be begging for his life. Matsuri briefly wondered if _she_ really had become the focus of his world.

"Please, Matsuri," he closed his eyes, no longer grimacing. On his face he wore a mask where he looked as though he had been released from a bond by saying those words: "You're the only one who can do this for me. I need you more than ever now. One last time, and I won't bother you again."

She took a deep breath ― probably the deepest she'd ever taken ― and stepped aside, allowing him entry into her home. "There's some tea on the coffee table, Gaara-sama," Matsuri pointed out, smiling, "I'll need some time to tidy up, so please make yourself at home."

He nodded curtly and sat himself down on her maroon sofa; relief and relative indifference clear on his face. The redhead stared at the small teapot, and fingered the handle of a small, untouched ceramic teacup. Matsuri knew she could have rambled on and on about anything in the world, and it would simply be answered with a dull expression containing strained sympathy.

She knew that much about him, and it made her wonder, did his wife know that too?

_One last time,_ Matsuri scoffed to herself as she pushed her bedroom door open and closed it softly behind her. _As if, Gaara-sama. As if. _

~X~

She walked a bit closer to the front door, her foot steps soft and concealed. Temari realised her brother didn't live in an apartment ― his new house rivaled their old home, sprawling and spacey, that bastard. She heard the door click open and instantly stopped.

Peering over the curved wall, she saw her new sister-in-law emerging from the compounds with a strange look of resolution.

The door clicked shut. Hinata started walking away from the house.

Curious, Temari snuck up behind her, and it was only through her quick reflexes that she managed to avoid being poked in her chest. Hinata managed to land a hit on her arm, however, and Temari flinched involuntarily.

The person from the Hyuuga looked at her with indifferent white eyes, and they stared at each other for a while.

"What are you doing?" It came out more as an accusation than a question, and Temari regarded Hinata suspiciously. She liked the girl, honest, but she couldn't take any chances. One hit to her heart and her body would be on the floor.

Hinata took a second to answer, as if she was contemplating not saying anything at all. Then she sighed and squatted down on the floor, her knees pulled up close to her chest in front of her. "Going home," she mumbled in reply, her voice soft and numb and just plain painful.

Temari almost pitied her, a person sucked into the vortex of politics and death, all because of her father. Not that he wasn't a great man ― in fact Temari admired Hiashi for doing something her own useless father would never have done ― just that she felt this could have all been solved without so many troubles. She almost cracked a smile ― she was starting to sound like Shikamaru.

Something inside her clenched, and she wasn't sure it wasn't her heart.

The kunoichi of the sand didn't say anything more, and Hinata exhaled deeply again before rising, bowing her head as she turned around to leave. She waved Temari a little meek wave, her steps slow and heavy.

"Your sister's coming."

That made Hinata stop. She twisted her torso so she could start firing questions once she got over her puzzlement. But the farthest she went with her questions was a tired sigh when a dark hooded figure appeared behind her ― too fast to elicit a reaction from her ― and put her to sleep.

Kankuro caught her before she hit the ground face-first. He stared at the sharpened metal bar that dropped from Hinata's sleeve, still blue with her chakra infused into it. Then he shifted his gaze to his older sister and started for the house. "You weren't going to stop her," he said. It wasn't a question.

Temari searched for a reason, but all she could think of was that she would have done the same, if Shikamaru was killed, if she wasn't bound to her village this strongly, if she wasn't a shinobi at all. Her teal eyes closed while she picked up the improvised blade, ripped off from the handle used to hang towels and shaped by powerful, refined chakra.

"Since when were you so fast, Kankuro?" she commended, but she didn't mean it. Her brother was only as fast as her vision was slow and her state of mind in shock. Temari almost recoiled when her skin brushed the surface of the weapon ― now encased with a faint blue glow. It stung her flesh, and Temari knew she'd gotten lucky; the news of her sister and Kankuro's sudden appearance caught her off-guard. If her fingers or her hidden blade had hit Temari, she would have been a bloody, twitching heap on the floor.

Sighing, Temari kicked the broken metal into the house, and pushed it to one side of the hallway. Then she went inside, just as quietly, closing the door behind her.


	26. Chapter 25

Ninety minutes into the forests surrounding Konoha, Hanabi pulled on the reins. She got down from the horse, and stepped forward, her visage already frowning. The feisty young Hyuuga cleared her throat, her fingers tightening around the leather.

"Come out," she shouted, "I don't like talking to people whose faces I cannot see."

The leaves rustled and the wind blew, but it would be a full minute before the shinobi would step out of the shadows. Subconsciously, Hanabi's eyes softened and her shoulders relaxed. Yet she didn't take one step away from her steed.

"Shinobi aren't supposed to be seen, Hanabi-sama."

Her grip on the reins slackened. "I would have thought you'd reached Oto already." Her tone was polite and somewhat warm, and her other arm fell lamely to her side.

He hesitated. "Not yet."

Confused, Hanabi tilted her head sideways by a fraction of a degree. Then her opalescent eyes narrowed and suddenly she sighed, irate but not really. "You're waiting for her, aren't you?" Hanabi mumbled, and it wasn't a question. "Where do you think you'll bring her for now? You know you can't go back to Konoha now."

The older man dismissed her skeptical questions. He shook his head. "Hinata-sama thinks I did it?"

She nodded numbly, and she clutched the reins with more force. Her voice became a whisper, impudent and angry. "You never told me Father ordered you to do it." Hanabi stopped staring at the ninja standing just five metres away from her.

He let out a hearty laugh, cynical and sordid but hearty nonetheless. He turned around slowly, shamelessly showing his back to Hanabi. "Would you have carried the plan out if I did?"

Before Hanabi could respond, he shot her one last sidelong glance over his shoulder, and jumped to the nearest tree branch. He crouched to maintain his balance as he gripped the bark.

"Make sure you deliver the letter to Hinata-sama," he reminded with a note of finality, and then Neji was gone.

~X~

Temari cringed. If there was something she hated the most, it was having to restrain a comrade. Yes, she considered Hinata to be somewhat of a comrade ― she'd be stuck with her brother, and as much as he'd changed over the years, he still screamed intimidation. Initially the blond kunoichi thought of downplaying Hinata's abilities, but she figured her brother wouldn't have relented, and she hated it when people insulted their friends.

Somehow Kankuro was able to pick up on her unhappiness. "It's necessary, Temari," he pointed out, tightening the knot. Hinata flinched, still unconscious. "She's proven herself to be dangerous." The puppeteer took a step back from the restrained form of his sister-in-law and gesticulated in the direction of the improvised weapon, still surrounded by a faint blue chakra.

And then he took a close look at his sister, scrutinising her visage. Temari shifted her weight, uneasy.

Kankuro's painted eyes narrowed. "This isn't about Shikamaru, is it?" His voice was accusatory and highly suspicious, and for a moment Temari couldn't answer. The puppeteer sighed, gasped, and walked wearily toward a chair. He fell into it, leaving his sister to prop Hinata upright.

"Well," he murmured, quite dazed. "Can't say I don't particularly like him."

Temari blanched. "I…" she hesitated. "This isn't about me or Shikamaru. This is about Gaara." Her teal eyes focused on the stirring form of her sister-in-law, decidedly avoiding her brother's invasive gaze that seemed to be able to dissect her soul. Hinata's eyelids started to flutter in a way that would have normally induced unbearable nausea.

The man opened his mouth to protest, but their attention shifted as they heard the front door open. When they heard two pairs of footsteps, when Kankuro felt _two_ familiar chakra signatures enter, he shot a look at Temari and this time, she reciprocated.

Inside his room, Gaara took a moment to process the scene and attempt to understand why his wife was tied up and his two siblings appeared to be the culprits. The Kazekage shook his head after a few silent minutes, and moved aside to allow his guest entry to his bedroom. He had the satisfaction of seeing his siblings' eyes pop out for just that split second as they recognised the shinobi Gaara brought along.

Matsuri stood by the ajar door, uncomfortable and uneasy and just plain unnerved. She felt Temari's harsh gaze on her, like the sister of the man she so admired was trying very painfully to comprehend why she of all people had been chosen. Matsuri felt the apathetic look of dull sympathy and unwarranted pity from the eyes of Kankuro, as if he actually understood her feelings.

Her broken heart fell further.

Temari took five minutes to understand what Gaara was trying to telepathically tell her, and she dragged Kankuro out by his cat-like ears on his hoodie. The redhead followed behind his whining older brother, and a brief nod was all that he addressed to his former student, whose legs were together and whose arms were crossed. She wasn't looking at his wife.

The wooden door closed behind the renowned sand siblings. Matsuri breathed in deeply and held it while she sat down awkwardly on a study chair. She ran her fingers on the smooth, varnished wood, traced the artistic lines in the material that made the furniture all the more beautiful. Her arms sat on the respective arm rests, and Matsuri allowed herself to think that this could have been hers.

On cue, Hinata stopped stirring and her eyes opened slowly. Her throat was dry and she felt absolutely horrible, but that was pushed to the back of her disorientated mind. The ex-Hyuuga willed her hand to rub her grieving eyes, and this was when she realised there was rope wrapped around her body.

Hinata could have screamed. She could have thrashed around in her restraints and yelled bloody murder to anyone who wad unlucky enough to be in her presence. She could have channeled her chakra to her hands like she always did, and break through the cords that wound around her body again and again.

Hinata sat limply, allowing her mind to slowly absorb her situation. She replayed the few events prior to her unconsciousness in her head, and her hand twitched in response to her will.

It was only when Matsuri spoke that Hinata realised there was someone else in her bedroom.

"Hinata..." her words were soft and disjointed, and she looked as if she were staring right past her. "That's your name, isn't it?"

Matsuri received a rather confused expression in reply, and an extremely cautious, "Yes it is."

The girl almost punched herself; she researched everything about her Kazekage's wife the day he told her, and she had read and re-read the information it was probably permanently burned into her memory. There was no doubt about it; Gaara had went ahead and married Hyuuga Hinata of the Hyuuga Clan, and the woman sat just a few metres away from her, held back and ― as Matsuri thought ― defenceless.

Matsuri sighed. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm guessing it's pretty bad. Gaara-sama didn't tell me anything else about your situation."

A delicate eyebrow was raised over a pair of soulless white eyes. "Gaara-kun asked you to talk to me?"

The suna kunoichi bit her lip. _Yes, he did_, she wanted to say, _He asked me. Which is so unlike him, because Gaara-sama hardly ever takes the initiative to ask anyone anything when it comes to personal matters._ Matsuri nodded.

Hinata remembered Temari telling her Hanabi was coming to visit her. She chuckled. Suddenly she was the centre of a covert debacle. "Your parents are dead, aren't they?" It came out more aggressive than Hinata actually meant it, but if Matsuri was offended, she didn't show it.

"Yeah," the younger girl answered with a small shrug. "Murdered before my very eyes. With weapons. Gaara-sama cured me of my trauma."

Hinata flashed a little warm smile that cracked the other girl's fallen heart. "He must have been a good teacher."

_He must be a good husband_.

Matsuri realised she'd said this out loud when the white-eyed beauty with gorgeously silky tresses sent her a quizzical look, underlined with a small restrained curve of her lips that would have been pretty if she meant it. Matsuri felt her cheeks burn and blood rush to her ears.

"He has been good to me, so far," came her distant reply. Then she rearranged her expression and Hinata said sadly, "He doesn't deserve any of this. I'm very sorry he has to go through this too."

"He needs you," Matsuri blurted out, because she was an idiot and because she always said the most forward things. "Gaara-sama, he _needs_ you."

"_I_ need to go home," Hinata countered sharply, and her sudden assertiveness almost knocked Matsuri off her chair.

Hinata's pale face coloured. "Excuse me, please," she pardoned herself politely, "You don't deserve any of this either." At that moment she was thankful for the feeble rope; at least it blocked her from acting on pure impulse.

Matsuri started chewing the insides of her cheeks. "I don't know why you're doing what you're doing or why Gaara-sama's doing what he's doing, but if he's gone this far, I don't think you should pass him up. Gaara-sama never does anything for a girl." _Not even for me_.

Hinata took one good long look at the girl sharing her air, and vice versa. Matsuri wasn't too bad of a looker ― pretty face, thin body, hormones that practically defined her entire being... She seemed atypical of a kunoichi her age. Then Hinata saw something familiar in Matsuri's eyes ― adoration, blind adoration in its purest form, coupled with crushing heartbreak and absolute helplessness.

Hinata almost scooted to the wall; she saw herself in Matsuri's eyes in more ways than one. Suddenly she was twelve years old again, weak and worthless and pining away for things she'd never get.

Hinata focused on the duvet. "What would you do, if your parents were still alive? If your parents were just killed yesterday?"

There was a long pause, and Matauri decided to choose her words carefully. "Well," she murmured, her eyes on the Kazekage's wife.

She saw the nose that was shaped like a doll's, not too small an not too large, not too high and not too low. She saw how her lips were so delicate looking and how they looked so unbearably soft, even from her distance. She saw her fair complexion, white and even and so clean it made her despair.

And her eyes ― oh, her _eyes_ ― they were the most captivating things she'd seen in her life, even more so than the beautiful pair of green ones from her boss. They held a sort of mysterious aura, and they seemed to hold more than a million secrets. Hinata looked so normal, so un-ninja it was beautiful, and it kidnapped your attention and held it for ransom. Matsuri no longer wondered why she was picked.

"You're the wife of the Kazekage now," the suna kunoichi pointed out. "Your first duty is to your husband. If I were married to Gaara-sama I'd put him first. He would have been my family first."

Hinata wondered, if she was married to Naruto, how would she have reacted? Granted, there was some form of peace and she even dared to say there was a small inkling of, perhaps, affection. Her father never thought much of her anyway, and neither did any of the Hyuuga Council. They weren't worth the trouble, not even if she had duty as their relative, were they?

Besides, Hanabi was coming.

"You're lucky," Matsuri continued when Hinata stayed silent. "If it were me I would've been so happy." She gained rhythm and force. "If it were me I would've―"

"I'm sorry, alright?" Hinata interrupted, because she was sick of girls who looked to the past when they hoped for the future. Naruto and Sakura flashed in her mind. "I'm sorry I took the man you loved away from you. I'm sorry he was the one. I'm sorry you knew him. I'm sorry you became a shinobi. I'm sorry your parents died. I'm sorry you were born. I'm sorry you're living a pathetic existence, but could you please get out and leave me be?"

Matsuri made a sort of strangled sound at the back of her throat, and she stood up, apprehensive. Her eyes narrowed and all she could see was a shrew of a woman, angry and miserable and so ungrateful.

"Gaara-sama really cares for you," she repeated with a substantial amount of strain in her voice, and then she started walking.

Hinata saw Matsuri's shadow leave the bedroom.


	27. Chapter 26

Omiai Chapter 26

Temari pinched the bridge of her nose as she fanned herself with a miniature paper fan. Sitting haphazardly in an armchair, she allowed her other arm to flop over the armrest. On the couch, Kankuro sat stiffly next to a slouched Gaara, who had taken to studying the floor in his siblings' presence.

"Really, Gaara?" the kunoichi murmured, "Really? Of all people... Really?"

The Kazekage shrugged. "You were going to say something about Matsuri sooner or later." He wrung his hands together, his knuckles white.

Temari's eyes flew to her first brother. Kankuro was leaning against the backrest of the sofa, his naked face slack and devoid of any strong emotion. She almost wanted to hit him.

"Kankuro," she said sharply, getting his attention, "Say something."

The puppeteer nodded slowly, and he twisted his torso to look at Gaara. "Congratulations", he said, with the most serious face Temari had ever seen on the face of this brother, "You _aren't_ going to die a virgin."

Temari raised a hand in warning, and Kankuro winced. But afterwards he snorted nonchalantly, then shifted to a more comfortable position. He crossed his arms in defiance while Temari rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing at my house anyway?" Gaara questioned in low undertones. He allowed a shade of anger to pepper his voice, and at the corner of his eye Kankuro scooted just a centimeter further away from him.

Temari cleared her throat, and her fingers caressed the smooth metal of her fan's frame. "I was delivering the news of her sister's arrival," she said. "That's all."

Kankuro shrugged. "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd see how she's doing," he mumbled, "You know, just to make sure she wasn't attempting suicide or anything."

He caught his brother's stare, and added quickly with the fervor of a politician, "I'm not hot for her or anything. Of course not. That's just... Weird and totally immoral. I wouldn't do that to you, Gaara. I like my whole body too much."

The Kazekage scowled. "Hinata's strong," he said simply, and Gaara was about to elaborate when they heard his bedroom door click open and then click shut. Footsteps resounded through the hall and the sand siblings laid their eyes on a visibly shaken Matsuri.

She paused when she was at the entrance of the living room, and quietly proceeded to the front door without so much as a small nod. Temari rolled her eyes again and was about to pursue the kunoichi, but Kankuro beat her to it.

The puppeteer practically jumped out of his seat on the sofa and brisk-walked to the girl. Gaara and his sister heard low whispers, the gathering of shoes, and then the heavy wooden door slamming shut. He exchanged glances with Temari, and she sighed in annoyance.

"I'll deal with it," she told him as she picked her iron fan up and strapped it to her back. She patted her brother's red head and waved him goodbye before she bowed her own head and left.

His front door closed a second time, and Gaara knew he and Hinata were alone. The Kazekage took a deep breath and headed to his bedroom.

~X~

"Hinata?" he murmured in soft greeting, pushing the door open. Gaara heard nothing in reply, so he let himself in. He didn't bother to close the door behind him.

The Kazekage sat at the foot of his magnificent four-poster bed, his eyes fixated on his wife. He stretched his arm and tugged a little at her rope. She winced.

"I can untie you if you want," he told her gently, and Hinata needed a minute to nod as an answer. She shuddered as her husband drew closer and undid the knots, relaxed as the coils slowly undid themselves and allowed her freedom, shivered as her skin finally met with moisture and some of his brushed against hers.

"Thank you," she managed while Gaara placed the rope in a bedside drawer. He pushed the drawer shut and moved back to the foot of the bed, his wife a good hundred-and-fifty centimetres away.

The kage hesitated. "Do you, you know, want to talk?"

Hinata stiffened, then fell against the fluffy down pillows. "Konoha," she whispered, her voice a small, hoarse melody. "Why won't you let me go back to Konoha?"

His mind flashbacked to when he had a meeting with Tsunade. _Whatever you do, don't allow Hinata back_, she had said, _She won't be able to control her grief, and neither would her friends._

_What if I do? What if she cries so much and begs and tries to come herself?_, he had asked, his brows beetled together.

Tsunade had shot him a warning glare, as if she had interpreted the question as a taunt. _I won't allow her back into the village, no matter how hard she screams. This is according to her father's wishes. I hope you honour it._

Gaara remembered his white knuckles, and his bleeding lower lip. He moved closer, and then he lied down next to a sitting Hinata. She pulled her knees closer to her chest.

"Why," he said as he sighed, "Would you want to go back anyway? Your father both mistreated and didn't think much of you."

There was a shadow of hurt that enveloped her features, and she closed her eyes. "He may not have thought the best of me," Hinata began softly, "But he is my father. And my cousin — they say _he_ is the culprit." Here she shook her head in strong disbelief, her eyes snapping open.

Hinata managed eye contact as she said to Gaara with such conviction it scared him, "I know Neji-Nii-san will _never_ do anything to harm the Hyuuga." Then she folded her arms neatly and placed her hands on top of each other. Her brow started to beetle together.

"So," the Kazekage surmised slowly, "You want to go back to get to the bottom of this? Tsunade is already overseeing the investigations, but it's been confirmed by your sister that Neji did it."

And here he got a reaction from his wife that he never in the nine hells imagined he would get.

Hinata practically sprung up from her position on the bed, and her tone bordered on hysterical as she screeched like a banshee, "Neji-Nii-san would have _never_ done such a thing! Never! And my sister deserves a grave punishment for her actions, because she should know even better than I would."

"So it has nothing to do with your father."

The ex-Hyuuga winced, clambered back to her introversive spot back on the extravagant canopied bed. She put her palms back on her bent knees, her chin resting on the backs of her hands. "I wish," Hinata answered carefully, her gaze shifting to the beige walls that had been artistically covered with a fat painted canvas. It was tilted a little to the side, and something told her it was a relatively new addition to the house. "To see my father one last time."

Gaara was beyond puzzled. When his own father died at the hands of that bastard Orochimaru, he couldn't really have given two grains of sand. He had an inkling that Hinata never really got to talk to her own father the way he did during the war — somehow he just knew Hiashi hadn't been summoned from the dead just yet — and even now he still had his reservations regarding parenting. The Kazekage shifted uneasily at the thought of him being a father one day. He wondered if kidnapping was illegal if done covertly.

"What if," Gaara hazarded a small glance in her direction, and upon seeing she still wasn't looking at him, started to lower his line of sight. "Your father didn't totally hate you? If... If he was doing this for you?"

Hinata answered at first with a slight shrug, and then she cracked a cringing smile and her hands pressed against the sides of her head. "Father would have put the clan first," she murmured, "Because he was the head and he was my father, and I respect every decision he has made."

Gaara stayed silent. He could hear the small quiver in her voice, pick up on the way it lilted just when she said _he was my father_. The kage suddenly couldn't help but regret agreeing to his cockamamie plans, because now that it got down to this, it seemed Gaara had to pick up the pieces for him. Not that he didn't feel affection for the woman who had so quickly shrank into a girl, it was just that he didn't like that feeling, the feeling where he was made to look like a monster in front of the woman his heart was thawing for.

Hinata cleared her throat, and this time he didn't look at her. "Hanabi's coming."

Gaara bowed his head and swallowed. "Yeah," he answered, "She'll stay with us for the duration of her visit. If you want me to, I'll move to the guestroom."

"No, it's fine," Hinata replied coolly, her legs slacking a little. "I'll move."

Another tired sigh. And then, silence.

"Hinata?"

She continued to study the duvet. "Yes?"

Gaara closed his eyes. He snaked a hand closer to the huddling form of his wife, closer and closer till he found her palm and she almost jumped. He slipped his long fingers through hers, and squeezed her hand lightly, because he was afraid of breaking her.

His forehead relaxed by just a fraction. "I'm really happy I married you."


	28. Chapter 27

Omiai Chapter 27

As the day progressed into the hours of late afternoon, Hanabi realised she would need half a day more to reach her sister.

She dismounted near a spring and brought her horse to the water, allowing it to rest and replenish its strength for the journey the next day. From her accurate shinobi estimation skills, Hanabi deduced there was still about half a day till her arrival.

She would not ride through the night, because it was dangerous and she knew the potential dangers of travelling both alone and fatigued. Hanabi did not regret leaving her clansmen behind and journeying to her sister by herself, however, because she knew it was better like this. Her mind shifted to the letter sewn to the inner hem of her jacket, a thin pale grey overcoat given to her as a birthday present. It _was_ a little cold.

_"It-it's a present. For your birthday. Happy birthday," she says, and Hanabi sees her sister's face colour._

Hanabi fed the small fire with twigs, settling onto the thin mat she had brought along. She substituted a pillow with her pack of clothing, and wrapped her arms around her torso. Suddenly she was grateful for her sister.

_"It's thick but not too thick. I know you aren't very sensitive to the cold," she explains bashfully as Hanabi runs her hands over the material. She's right._

It was vexing, really. Her older sister was weaker than her, but Hinata's birthright was still entitled to her despite everything. Hanabi found she lived in her sister's shadow even through the latter's weaknesses.

_"Do you like it?" she hesitates, but a small smile stretches across her face. She does._

Hinata was always something more than she was. Hinata was always _kinder_ than she ever was. Hinata was always _calmer_ than she ever was. Hinata was always weaker than she was.

_"You're strong, Hanabi," she grins encouragingly. She knows she is._

Hanabi had only gained the privilege of leading the clan after her sister agreed to the marriage, and now she realised everything was a ploy to help her sister. The Hyuuga girl shifted to the side, curling up in a fetal position.

_"Way stronger than I ever was at your age."_

It was unfair. So, so, very unfair. Hanabi felt her heart sink lower and lower the more she thought about it.

_"Hanabi."_

So what if she was the stronger sibling? She always had been the stronger sibling, but Hanabi never got the perks of being such a child. Silently, her mind drifted off to the times when she saw Hinata going outside to play, when she saw Hinata dismissed early from arduous hours of training, when she saw Hinata being ignored by her father and even having the gall to _look sad_.

_"You must get stronger."_

When she turned around and saw the harsh cold eyes of her father, communicating to her via sheer will that he expected nothing less than perfection from her. When she saw that her hours of training would never end. When she saw her best would never be good enough, because her father's expectations were always ten times higher.

_"Try harder, Hanabi."_

She was scared of failing him. Always had been.

_"You are a Hyuuga. My child. You will reach greater heights."_

Hanabi took after her father. Everyone said that. But that was because her mother died such a long time ago it seemed her father was the only parent she could resemble.

_"Harder. Concentrate more chakra."_

Hanabi loved her father. She really did. The girl truly admired her father for the man he was, loved him for the blood they shared.

_"More, Hanabi, can't you obey? Come at me like you want to kill me!"_

Hanabi hated her father. She hated him because as much as he showed his care for her as his protégé, as his dear second daughter who he had high hopes for, he never really pushed her sister the way he pushed her.

_"Don't fight with your sister. She will not make you stronger."_

Sure, there were many times when Hinata would be dragged and pulled to her breaking point, but just as she looked as if she was about to break, her father's face would soften by just a fraction for just a second, and then he would stop the match. It was as subtle as a drop of rain in a monsoon, but Hanabi was her father's daughter, and she noticed straight away. Well, after the third time or so.

_"That's enough, Hinata. Leave."_

Hanabi envied Hinata. Envied her for the life she was allowed to live, for the friends she was allowed to make, for the freedom she was allowed to have. Hated her, too, because Hanabi couldn't hate her father for loving her and training her and grooming her like he did. _She was his favorite, as she had been told so many thousand times_, and she would succeed him no matter what./i And she did.

_"You are to be the next head."_

In the clear, neat field of grass, on the soft plains of lush green, Hanabi turned quietly to her other side, and she started to wonder if her father even loved her at all.

_"I told you, didn't I? You are my child."_

~X~

The first thing Hinata thought when Gaara's face came over hers was, _his lips are cold_.

It was strange, really. Even in the desert heat of Suna her husband's lips were devoid of warmth. They were dry, too. Cracking and dry and, as Hinata reckoned, on the verge of bleeding. It was a little strange, because from her point of view she always saw her husband's lips as, well, slick and sultry and positively delicious... If she did allow herself such thoughts, anyway.

She felt him gasp, and when he pulled away her lips suddenly went cold. There was a tint of red, a shade of blush on his flawless face, and just like he was her mirrored image, he lifted a finger to his lower lip. Hinata felt her ears go hot.

Her voice was exceptionally high when she spoke. "That was…" She stopped, at a loss for words. That wasn't her first kiss, but it might as well have been. Out of the blue, Hinata was a bumbling seventeen year old again, stressed and desperate and angry. She wondered if there was steam pouring out of her ears.

Gaara lifted himself off the bed, but not before his forefinger traced his wife's delicate jaw line, his face softening and his expression looking almost hurt. And then he was gone – off the mattress, off to the bathroom. Hinata held her breath as her featureless eyes followed her husband when he disappeared through the doors.

There was the sound of cloth unwinding; leather dropping onto the floor, belts unbuckling. Her husband emerged from the sprawling bathroom before her thoughts could go any further. Clad in flowing, conservative robes akin to the normal everyday wear in Suna, Hinata's imagination simply flew out of control.

There was silence, absolute stillness, between the newlywed couple, and Gaara stepped closer and closer to his half-sitting wife, doe-eyed and flushed. He set his lips – cold, again – onto her smooth, pearly forehead after gently brushing her bangs away. The Kazekage allowed said lips to linger on longer than he had expected, and when he tore away he brushed his finger against her supple skin, his eyes were closed.

Gaara walked to the door, his steps slow and steady. Before the kage of Suna stepped out of the room, however, he paused and he turned around.

"Too late," he murmured so softly Hinata asked herself if she was dreaming, and then he was gone.


	29. Chapter 28

Omiai Chapter 28

Hanabi entered the chasm between the tall walls surrounding her sister's new home country with the quickness of a sloth. Dragging herself through the sand with all the poise and grace she could squeeze from her tired body, Hanabi somehow managed to hold her head up high while her legs felt like it was slow-baking in the warm sand.

A ninja jumped out in front of her and bowed his head low, and he dipped his body curtly before lifting his eyes to hers. "We would like some identification," he told her in an almost threatening voice, and added quite hastily, "please."

Hanabi lifted her head just a degree higher, and she sniffed in the cockiest tone she could manage. She passed a little piece of paper with the seal of Konoha on it, and the ninja spared a furtive glanced. He studied her for a few moments more, and then he broke into a half-smile. He stepped aside, allowing Hanabi to pass through.

"You're prettier than the rumors give you credit," he remarked softly, as if to himself, and before Hanabi could slap him in the face or hug him or even start crying, the Sunagakure ninja was gone.

~X~

Her sister answered the door quietly. Hanabi had the satisfaction of looking at said sister gasp, her mouth gap open, close and open it in utter shock and something that looked like relief, then watching the dams burst and having her older sister cry while throwing her thin arms around her smaller frame. All Hanabi did was reciprocate the display of affection and smile in return.

Suddenly her backpack got ten times heavier.

~X~

"What if I said I loved you?"

Matsuri kicked the stool in front of her, sending it sprawling over the floor. She picked at her hair, now long and tied up in a messy bun. "You know I could never hate you, Gaara-sama." She sighed. "But that doesn't mean you have a right to toy with my feelings."

Across her, the Kazekage suppressed a knowing snort. He maintained his steely stare at his former student, his crossed arms relaxing. "Of course I don't," he agreed with the slyness and curt tone Matsuri found annoying and attractive at the same time. "I would get beaten up if I did, regardless of my status."

Matsuri shot him a blank look, but after a short while she just shook her head, shrugging. Deep down, she knew she hadn't gotten over him. She knew it would take a million lifetimes for her to forget her first love.

"Matsuri, I agreed to this marriage because I saw it as beneficial to our village and our people. As the Kazekage, I have a duty to the villagers first. Personal matters come second, if not at all, when it regards the welfare of Sunagakure. As my student I know you know this well."

Silence.

"I know you must have been extremely hurt when you found out about my marriage, but you know I could never have married you without huge obstacles in our way. I did love you, Matsuri. If I didn't I wouldn't have done the things I did."

Matsuri's voice was hoarse and dry when she spoke, even though she had gulped down various volumes of tea. "Gaara-sama," the kunoichi hesitated, but when he gave her an assuring nod she steeled herself and willed herself to continue. "You will always be my first love. I would never be able to hate you, and I don't hate your new wife either. I just hate that it wasn't me."

Gaara thought this over, the gears in his red head ticking. Then his eyes lit up with a sort of mild surprise. "There isn't a husband in any of this, is there, Matsuri?" the Kage's voice was little angry but amused.

Matsuri laughed for the first time in a long time. "There was one, Gaara-sama," she told him, lifting her teacup to her lips for another time. "But he was fat, ugly, and had three other abused harpies for wives, so I kicked his ass and sent him on his way."

Gaara flashed a small smile; taking comfort in her laugh he hadn't heard for quite a substantial amount of time. Hell, he hadn't heard _anybody_ laugh in a long time. "I hope you're feeling better," he said, "Because there probably is going to be another candidate soon. And I'd hate for you to send him on his way, even if he's fat and ugly."

Again Matsuri looked at her boss with clueless, wide eyes. But as the man got up and headed for her front door, a wave of panic seized her. "Where are you going?" she asked with the anxiety of a lost child. Matsuri fought the urge to cling onto his flowing robes.

Gaara stopped. He turned around to look at his subordinate one last time, then he took a fee steps closer to Matsuri and settled his lips onto her forehead.

"Those two secret years we had together were the best years I've had so far, Matsuri," Gaara promised her quietly, the wind from the open door taking his robes into the air ever so slightly. "I'm ready to move on, and I know you are too."

Gaara wiped a stray tear from her face, and it was only now that Matsuri realised she'd let one escape.

"Thank you, Matsuri," he finished with an awesome amount of undisputed finality in his tone. Gaara rubbed his thumb on the spot where he wiped her tear, his visage tender, his voice velvet.

And then he was gone.

~X~

Sitting on her sister's large couch, Hanabi had to resist the urge to lie down and just drift off to sleep.

It had been a good half hour since she'd entered the house and calmed her sister down. It had also been a further good forty-five minutes since she'd passed the comparatively heavier envelope to Hinata, whose hands shook and lips quivered when she took it from her younger sibling.

Hinata had been staring at it for nearly twenty minutes, and Hanabi was certain there was another letter in the envelope, but she didn't say anything for fear of shattering the thin film of calm that had settled between the two of them. As happy as she was to see her sister, Hanabi had _never_ been fond of waterworks.

Another ten minutes passed before Hinata could put the crisp pieces of paper down onto the coffee table. She folded them back into halves as Hanabi tried to sneak a peak, and Hinata gasped a few times before her willpower crumbled and she threw herself into the arms of her younger sister.

"I'm sorry, Hanabi," Hinata choked out between sobs. "I'm so sorry..."

The younger girl tentatively wrapped her thin arms around her sister's body, and she patted her sister's back.

Hinata hiccupped. "I was... Father said... I never..."

There were so many messages that Hinata sent to her sibling through the former's body language, but Hanabi chose to ignore all of them.

Squeezing her sister in a comforting fashion, Hanabi told her sister to shush. "It's alright, Onee-san. It's alright."

It would be a good seven minutes till the newest Hyuuga Head realised that she had been crying with her sister.


	30. Epilogue

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for sticking to Omiai for so long (: I'm thinking of doing another extra chapter addressing any questions/plot holes. Drop a review if you have a question or if you're interested.

If you do like my work then please_ please_ _**please**___check '_Of Books, Magic, and Children with Sticks_' (.net/s/7240986/1/Of_books_magic_and_children_with_sticks) out in your free time!

Special thanks to:

Maniacslaugh (especially!)

BlackIrishHawk

Yes my lovelies. This is the end of Omiai. );

~X~

_Hinata,_

_ First of, I would like to apologize. All of the Hyuuga have been dragged into this mess because of a selfish want of mine, and I am so very sorry. Neji is my worst victim, followed by Hanabi, and then you. But Neji is supposed to be on the run and Hanabi is to be kept in the dark for a little while longer, so I will entrust you with a special favour, as my firstborn. _

_ For the longest time, I saw my own younger brother suffer from the effects of the cursed seal. He was my flesh and blood, my mirror image, my twin. Then Neji came along, and I saw how much pain he had to endure. So I promised myself I would protect the next person who would be doomed to suffer the curse._

_ And that person turned out to be you._

_ The Hyuuga Council was discussing your marriage to the Kazekage, and upon further contemplation they decided they would seal you and your children on the first birthday of your firstborn. The lesson with the Mist shinobi was ingrained into their memories, and you do not know how cold my blood turned when they reached their decision._

_ Hizashi took great care in separating you and Neji when both of you were children, so you could not see firsthand the agony your cousin had to go through. I saw it from the time I saw my brother's face morph into a stranger's the day after I turned three years old. And I did not like it. _

_ You would not be able to understand. You _should never_ be able to understand. _

_ I was never a person of strong prominence in the Hyuuga Council. Your Grandfather and the surviving ones of his generations controlled the panel; I was more of a figurehead, old enough to maintain order, but young enough to be weaker than my own father._

_ I approached Neji. I explained my thoughts to him. Neji agreed with my plan without hesitation when he heard I would destroy the cursed seal. The boy still bears grudges against the Hyuuga Council, because when it all boils down to it the Council had to follow tradition and they had to place the seal on Hizashi._

_ Then I contacted Tsunade-sama and after many weeks she finally agreed, but only on the condition that the Head and his or her sibling of each generation still be knowledgeable about the seal. So the plan was settled upon. I was to inform Hanabi of a small fraction of my plan in order for her to establish some form of order amidst the uproar of chaos that the Council's death would be wont to cause. I did, and Hanabi managed the information I fed her with some degree of difficulty._

_ Tsunade-sama was supposed to assign a shinobi to kill the Council during the next meeting. I made sure she informed the Kazekage of our plan and he seemed to be determined in protecting you. Our last meeting was three days before said event, with the Kazekage, Neji, Tsunade and I in the Hokage Tower._

_ Neji proposed that he accept responsibility of the massacre, and I would expect that you uphold his decision. I want you to say what Hanabi would be saying – that your cousin turned rogue, and like Uchiha Itachi, he murdered the Hyuuga Council and he would have killed more, but Hanabi interrupted him and he left in a hurry. I have left instructions for Hanabi to re-assimilate Neji back into Konoha after the scandal dies down. _

_ There are attached letters to both Hanabi and Neji. Pass the letter to Neji when you next encounter him, and I want you to give Hanabi hers on her wedding day. _

_ You were always so gentle, so delicate, Hinata. I doubted you as ninja material, and I doubted you as heiress material, but I never doubted you as a daughter. I know you miss your mother terribly, and I am sorry you have to experience all this despair again. I pushed you because you had _that_ much potential, but I am afraid Hanabi had more actual skills. _

_ I am not sorry I pushed you, Hinata. I never will be, because I know that you somehow managed to find inner strength, whether or not it was the effect of Naruto or otherwise. You may never be the Head of the Hyuuga, but you will always be my daughter. Your children will always be my grandchildren, and I could not see my child or my child's children endure what my nephew and my younger brother had to suffer. I could not._

_ You were always so much like your mother, Hinata. I never hated that part of you._

_ If there are things I regret, it is that I did not do this when it came to Neji. That I failed to see how much power I had before it was too little too late. That I never got to teach to you the highest order of techniques. That I will never be able to see Hanabi on her wedding day. That I never got to say _'I love you'_ to my two girls. _

_ You were so much like your mother on your wedding day. So beautiful. So quiet._

_ I believe in you, and I will be watching over you._

_Hyuuga Hiashi_


	31. Extra

His mind still flared with anger when he thought about her. His hands still shook, his voice still trembled, his eyes still watered. Akamaru still rubbed his big head against his back whenever the former felt his companion shiver. But because she had already been gone for over a week, this only served to make Kiba feel more like a weakling.

Lying limply on the fields of lush green in the training grounds, Kiba closed his eyes while he tried to picture her life now – in those long flowing robes instead of the overcoat and Capri pants, having dust and sand being blown into her pure orbs instead of dry leaves on the floor. Having the Kazekage in all his redhead glory next to her.

Akamaru whimpered when Kiba threw a stray kunai at the tree, leaving a scar on its bark.

"Sorry, boy," he murmured, running his fingers through his fur. Akamaru felt rough – it'd been at least two weeks since Kiba had bothered to trim his canine friend. "Sorry," Kiba whispered again, this time apologizing for a thousand other things. "Sorry I'm not strong enough to brush this off. Sorry I've been neglecting you. Sorry I…"

Here, Kiba stopped. His throat was choked up by something he could not identify, and suddenly his eyes went all moist on him. Kiba sniffed, trying to hold his emotions back. He chewed on his lower lip, and he was sure his sharp teeth drew hot metallic blood. It tasted sour.

Then his vision dimmed, and Kiba's head snapped upwards to find the redhead girl who had been Sasuke's companion a while back. Oh, redheads. Oh, Sasuke.

"Scram," Kiba muttered loud enough for her to hear, quickly wiping the leaking moisture from the sides of his eyes. He would detest redheaded people for the remaining years of his life.

He saw her roll her red eyes, watched as she sat down next to him and sandwiched him between herself and Akamaru. She pulled her knees close to her chest, and her spectacles drooped ever so slightly down the bridge of her nose.

There was a silence, and then Karin turned to look at Kiba. "Hurts, doesn't it?" she said sympathetically, and she flashed a small empathetic smile.

Kiba stared at the small blades of grass. "Sucks to be you," he retorted, and the small green plants caught his tears.

~X~

Shikamaru ran his fingers over the crisp envelope of the newest letter. It was a smooth, creamy colour, and inscribed in rather messy scrawl at the front was his own name. He smiled to himself, contented with just staring at her horrendous handwriting that was just so _her_.

He opened the envelope as carefully as he could, and gently teased the folded letter out from the crevice of said envelope. Shikamaru traced each letter with his forefinger as he read his love's words by the window at her favorite dango shop.

~X~

Naruto played with his fingers as he waited impatiently outside the Hokage's office. He was close to biting his tongue in anticipation, and was about to claw away at the paint when the door opened noisily.

"Sasuke!" he blurted out, hurriedly crossing his arms together to appear as if he didn't really care.

The Uchiha snorted, turned around and dipped his head in the direction of Tsunade. The fifth nodded as she waved him off. Sasuke shut the door behind him, after which he started for the building's exit. Naruto came running after his best friend, a small bit of impudence starting to seep into his expression.

"What do you want? I'm busy, you know," Sasuke told him heatedly while the latter trailed behind the former.

"Just wanted to know how you're feeling, is all," Naruto answered, miffed. "About the Hyuuga Council..."

Sasuke rolled his onyx eyes lamely, his hands in his pockets. "I've helped them, and it was my decision. This isn't just about that. I know you too well."

Naruto blanched. "Well... About Sakura-chan..."

Sasuke raised a knowing eyebrow. "What about her?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "She's been crying the whole morning. What'd you say to her?"

Sasuke stopped walking, and by now they were just a step away from the majestic doors that marked the entrance of the Hokage building. A sudden wind swept a few dry leaves into the premises. "I let her go," Sasuke told Naruto, and he looked to the sun. The Uchiha had a small smile on his face, one that reflected a strange type of relief.

"I've never loved her, Naruto," Sasuke explained, taking one step into the sunlight. Dead leaves crinkled under his weight. "And I never will."

"But _you_," Sasuke continued, turning to look at his friend. "You've _always_ loved her."

~X~

Gaara took a deep breath. He clutched his letter from Hiashi tightly like it was his lifeline, and to some extent it was. Taking another deep breath, Gaara opened the door to his bedroom and found his wife sitting serenely on the edge of the bed, re-reading the letter from her father. Quietly, the Kazekage shut the door behind him.

There was a silence that blanketed the atmosphere as Gaara made his way to his side of the bed, and Hinata only turned to look at him when he had made himself comfortable. Her eyes were reddish but not as puffy as they had been when he came back from his office. His eyes followed her hands as they placed the letter to rest on her bedside table.

"Gaara-kun," Hinata said pleasantly, and he didn't know if he was to take that as a greeting.

"I'm sorry I didn't allow you to go back to Konoha," he replied, but his voice sounded alien; it was trembling and it was choked. Gaara struggled for something to say.

"Thank you," Hinata murmured after a while. Still, her eyes lit up and her tone perked up. "But why? Why did you do it?"

Gaara chuckled nervously. He allowed a hand to stray across the duvet and his fingertips brushed against his wife's. Hinata took a moment to react, after which she smiled a warm smile. The kage gasped softly when she slipped her hand into his, entwining their fingers together. She squeezed his hand gently, as if urging him to continue.

"At first it was because of my duty to Suna," Gaara admitted sheepishly, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. "I could have called the whole thing off, and I was going to, but..." He sighed, gathering his thoughts.

"If I had someone who did for me what I did for you, I would have been a different person," Gaara replied slowly, "I fully understand now why my own father did what he did."

Another deep exhalation, and this time Hinata grasped his other hand with her own. Her hands were smooth and soft, so unlike Matsuri's, so unlike Temari's.

"During our Omiai..." Gaara's visage was shadowed by a small smile. "You were so beautiful. And so sad. And I felt like I _had_ to protect you." Here he shook his head, wistful.

"Naruto would never have understood your family traditions. He would have engaged your family council in battle and that would just have erupted into civil war. Your cousin already found happiness with his lover. If you were to escape the cursed seal, you two would have to be married and he would have harbored resentment for the rest of his life. It's a sad existence, Hinata, I couldn't let that happen.

"So I agreed. And slowly I found myself... Feeling like I was _obligated_ to protect, to defend with everything I've got. That emotion grew stronger and stronger and even though I couldn't express myself through real words I knew what I was feeling inside," the Kazekage frowned, his hands curling into fists. Hinata stroked his palms in a bid to calm him down.

"But goddamnit the communication was the most difficult, infernal thing I've ever had to deal with in my whole span of existence!" Gaara growled irately at the memories. "I've fought a war and countless battles, I've died and been resurrected and that aspect of humanity is still the hardest thing I've had to attempt. I'm just socially inept!"

Hinata laughed a light-hearted trill, a gentle decrescendo. "I was a mess too, Gaara-kun," she offered.

The kage stared at his wife in a pleasant fashion, taking in her features. He cracked a smile. "You're some sort of motherly figure, Hinata. I've heard people tell me I am the luckiest man on earth to have you, because you're such a beautiful and gentle and skilled kunoichi.

"I'm afraid _I_ used _you_," Gaara shook his head, his slight grin disappearing. "You were like the mother I longed for, for the majority of my life, the parent I never had. I'm selfish."

Hinata seemed to be thinking her husband's last statement over, but her hands were still with his own. Then her eyes softened and she assured with her silky voice, her own unique medication for sore hearts, "I'm sorry. You are like the boy whom I loved but never loved me back. It would appear as if _I_ used _you_."

There was a pause, during which the Kazekage inched closer to his spouse till their faces were mere centimetres apart, and they felt each other's warm breaths on their own lips. Gaara wore a sort of wearied grin on his visage, and his tire was reflected in his wife's pearlescent orbs.

"Your father loved you more than he did himself," Gaara affirmed as he allowed his hand to slip away from his wife's gentle grasp. He used it to cup her supple cheek, and she turned her head into his palm. Hinata wrapped her own fingers around her husband's. She nodded, sucking in her lower lip.

Then Gaara pulled her closer to the mattress, and Hinata knew what was coming next.

"_Thank you."_


End file.
